§ 45. Mr. R. MORRISONasked the Prime Minister whether the Government has yet come to a decision with regard to the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Mines, and Department of Overseas Trade, respectively; and when he will be in a position to make a statement?
§ The PRIME MINISTERI am not yet in a position to add anything to the reply which I gave to the hon. Member on the 8th November.
§ Mr. MORRISONIn view of the fact that it is eight months since the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in this House the immediate abolition of these three Departments does it not seem extraordinary that eight months after we are not able to get a date when the decision will be given as to whether these Departments are going to be abolished or retained?
§ The PRIME MINISTERAs the hon. Member knows, it would require legislation.
§ Mr. MORRISONMay I ask whether the announcement made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer eight months ago that these three Departments were to be
| United Kingdom. | Australia. | New Zealand. |
| 42 per cent. | 42 per cent. | 16 per cent. |
§ The annual shipments since the Nauru Island Agreement Act was passed have been as follow: —
| — | United Kingdom. | Australia. | New Zealand. | ||||
| Tons. | Tons. | Tons. | |||||
| 1920–21 | … | … | … | … | 16,784 | 265,127 | 17,066 |
| 1921–22 | … | … | … | … | 16,178 | 171,881 | 38,706 |
| 1922–23 | … | … | … | … | — | 202,979 | 51,965 |
| 1923–24 | … | … | … | … | — | 318,690 | 60,687 |
| 1924–25 | … | … | … | … | — | 336,800 | 99,508 |
| 1925–26 | … | … | … | … | — | 274,183 | 98,160 |
| 1926–27 | … | … | … | … | — | (say) 464,825 | (say) 130,000 |
| 32,962 | 2,034,485 | 496,092 |
§ abolished is still the policy of the Government?
§ The PRIME MINISTERI can only refer the hon. Member to the answer which I gave on the 8th November.