Parliamentary Parties

ON

Tropical Joy-Rides

3ARTIES of Australian Parlia- L mentarians are being organised by Australian Territories Min ster Hasluck, to go to North Aus ralia, Papua, New Guinea, Nauru nd Ocean Island in the coming 30l season. They travel at Gov rnment expense.

Some of the members complained 1 Parliament in March that their >urs were being misrepresented by le newspapers. The newspapers lid that the tours had been organ ed as “consolation prizes” for lose unfortunates who had failed » secure inclusion in the parties 1 go to London to see the Corona on.

Senator Dorothy Langney called lis “contempt of Parliament.” She robably was right.

Mr. Hasluck said that three irties were being organised. These sits were regarded as part of iriiamentary duty because the Mnmonwealth Parliament had timate responsibility for the Ter iories and such visits had already fiply demonstrated their value in abates.

EDITORIAL NOTE: With all re ect, this newspaper does not agree th the Minister. He may be right theory (he is a famous theorist) t it does not work out in practice, is part of our burden to read iriiamentary debates; and never many years of reading have we m any worth-while contribution discussions as the result of a rnibers’ joy-ride to the Territories, le members are hurried around prepared tours, shown prepared Dgrammes, fed lavishly from pre red menus, and rarely given any ance of quiet talks with private sidents.

And the statement that the mmonwealth Parliament was “the imate responsibility for the Ter ories” is pure nonsense. The mmonwealth Parliament, like )st other Parliaments, has not actioned for some decades. All ijor decisions are taken in Party )ms, outside of Parliament, and ' discussions that take place on * floor of Parliament have no in

fiuence whatever on implementa tion of policy.

Parliamentary Government ceased ages ago. What we have now is Government by Party Machines—a vicious system that is handing De mocracy, bound hand and foot,

over to Totalitarianism.

Rwr.