CENSUS (AMENDMENT) BILL

Order for Second Reading read.

11.07 a.m.

The Chief Secretary (Mr W. A. C. Goode): Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

Sir, I think it is common knowledge to Members of this House that we are making arrangements to hold a census in June. During the course of making those arrangements and completing the plans to take the census, a number of points have come to notice on which it is considered desirable to amend the Census Ordinance. As a result, Sir, this Bill is now before the Assembly.

The purpose of the amendments is set out in some detail in the Explanatory Note and I shall not take up the time of the House in going through them in detail. Very briefly, they first of all bring the Ordinance up to date by providing that reports should come to this Assembly and by transferring to the appropriate Minister certain powers now exercised by the Government.

Secondly, there is a new provision to enable further abstracts to be taken from the census reports for use in welfare and other research projects.

And, lastly, there is a new provision which is contained in the Schedule which specifies the particulars which may be sought from the population during the census. At the present moment, our Ordinance gives full power to the Governor in Council to lay down such particulars as they think fit. We shall now, in this Schedule, limit the field within which questions may be asked. Sir, I beg to move.

Question proposed.

11.10 a.m.

Mr Marshall: Sir, I am a little unhappy about item 6 in the Schedule. It seems to me that it is extremely widely phrased, and that provisions of the Schedule-

Mr Speaker: Order. Perhaps the Member can best raise that point in Committee.

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Second time.