On the Fifth Stage it is expedient to say as a matter of record that the gravity and the character of this Bill are not lost sight of and that in normal times, when the nation was not threatened by great danger, no representative assembly would give powers analogous to those now being given to the Government. It is with a full appreciation of the magnitude of those powers and the distance we have been asked to go that we consent to this Bill. We do it only because we are assured by the Government that these wide powers are necessary for the safety of the State. In that knowledge, we give them those powers, believing that this democracy is capable of using such powers for the protection of the State and the ultimate preservation of the liberties of us all.
Emergency Powers (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 1940—Committee and Final Stages.
Bill put through Committee without amendment and received for final consideration.
Question proposed: "That the Bill do now pass."
Question put and agreed to.