POLITICAL UNITY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 31 July 1941, Page 4

POLITICAL UNITY

FORMATION OF NATIONAL GOVERNAIENT MR NORDMEYER'S OPPOSITION. DIFFERENCES IN PRINCIPLE BETWEEN PARTIES. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. “The mere fact that the newspapers throughout the country are unanimous about the need for a National Government should not by itself indicate that the idea merits no consideration,” said the Minister of Health, Mr Nordmeyer, when discussing political unity. There were numbers of persons, some of them, quite well meaning, who said that not only in war time but in time of peace, party politics should be abandoned altogether. To critical references to coalitions and National Governments in all parts of the Empire, Mr Nordmeyer added a quotation by the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Holland, in June, 1940, emphasising the importance of having an Opposition in order that the actions of the Government should be ‘ criticised. He propounded a series of questions to i the House. The first was whether, admitting the fact that coalition might sometimes be possible and desirable, that condition of affairs existed in the country today, when there was such a radical difference in principle between the National and Labour parties. The second was whether factors existed in the country today which would make unlikely the tendency of coalition to weaken government. The third was whether it was desirable that criticism should be stifled, criticism of Government action, particularly in time of war, being of vital importance to the country’s welfare. The last •question was whether, as coalition tended to bring in its train compromise and indecision, any arguments could be produced which would show that national unity would be preserved or a greater and more intensive war effort would occur if the two parties coalesced.