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Discussions were presented from the four National stations at regular times, generally weekly, during the greater part of the year. Among the subjects discussed have been : worker participation in management, the drift to the cities, tourist traffic in New Zealand, New Zealand's defence, trends in music, education, the use of leisure, cancer, the United Nations, films, New Zealand writers, New Zealand architecture, advertising, art, sport, displaced persons, national fitness, lodgings, household deliveries, the Public Service, trades unionism, and radio. Most of the speakers were New Zealanders. During the year " Brains Trust " programmes originated in New Zealand were broadcast from five National stations. General questions of opinion (sent in by listeners) were submitted to a panel of speakers for impromptu answer. These programmes have demonstrated the art of conversation at its best, and have been most popular with listeners. Close liaison has been maintained with sister broadcasting organizations in the Commonwealth—the British Broadcasting Corporation, the Australian Broadcasting Commission, the Broadcasting Corporation, and the South African Broadcasting Corporation—and with the Radio Division of the United Nations. New Zealand programmes were recorded for Great Britain and the other Dominions, and programmes recorded there broadcast in New Zealand. The voices of New Zealand delegates to meetings of the United Nations and its specialized agencies were recorded abroad, flown to New Zealand, and broadcast here. In other cases, when reception was good, these talks were recorded from the regular United Nations transmissions of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Short-wave Service. The Service is deeply indebted to these sister organizations for their constant readiness to help in using radio as a means of closer Commonwealth and International understanding. Parliamentary Broadcasts The proceedings of the House of Representatives continued to be relayed to listeners by Station 2YA. The presentation of the Budget by the Minister of Finance, the Right Hon. Walter Nash, and, later, the opening of the Budget debate by the Leader of the •Opposition, Mr. S. G. Holland, were rebroadcast by the main' National stations. Despite the fact that New Zealand is no longer alone in this field, the Service continues to receive inquiries about parliamentary broadcasting from overseas visitors. One visitor who displayed interest in the New Zealand system was Sir Gilbert Campion, a former Clerk of the House of Commons at Westminster. Plays and Feature Programmes Major local productions broadcast totalled 334, compared with 281 during the previous year. Of this number, the National stations broadcast 312, the Commercial stations 25, and the short-wave station 22. In addition, 141 short stories were presented, 114 from the National stations and 27 from the Short-wave station. Thirty-three plays were produced during the year. This is less than the 53 recorded ■ during the previous year, but for a considerable part of 1948 the Supervisor of Productions was absent from the studios producing the opera " Carmen." Plays by the New Zealand author John Gundry, the English authors Eden Phillpots, John Dickson Carr, and the late John Galsworthy, and the Australian author G. Murray Milne were among those recorded during the year. Nineteen short stories and 30 episodes of serials were recorded, including work by the late H. G. Wells, the English detective novelist J. Jefferson Farjeon, the American: -author Trudy Bliss, the Australian author Ethel Fielding, and the New Zealand writer Ruth Park.

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