ELECTORAL BOUNDARIES.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 189, 11 August 1922, Page 6

ELECTORAL BOUNDARIES.

PETITION AND SOME CHANGES. LABOUR MEMBER'S CHARGE. (By Telegraph.—Parliamentary Keportcr.) WELLINGTON, Thursday. "I would like to protest against it being possible for interested parties, by petition, to bring pressure to bear on tbe Electoral Boundary Commissioners and cause a population of roughly 1500 to be taken out of an electorate and transferred to an adjoining electorate," remarked Mr. McCombs (Lyttelton), when the Electoral Boundaries Commission's report was tabled to-day. Mr. McCombs declared that if proportional representa-. tion prevailed in and around Christchurch there would have been no need to resort to this devious back door method to take a block of 1500 voters out of Kainpoi to safeguard tbe Reform member's interest. It amounted to a political scandal that such an adjustment could be made possible in the interests of a political party in power because certain wires were pulled. Mr. \V. Olenn raised a point of order that the member had no right to make reflections on the Reform party that it manipulated boundaries. (Laughter.) Mr. Massey: The lion, member will have to answer for this; I am watching you carefully. Mr. Speaker ruled that the member must not reflect on individuals. Mr. McCombs: No threatening by the Prime Minister will coerce mc from doing my duty in exposing a grave electoral scandal. Mr. Massey, with a vigorous bang of bis net on bis desk, remarked: "Make a definite charge; give us names.' Mr. McCombs: You only have to look up the report to see the names of the petitioners. Mr. Massey: You know they have a right to petition. The Hon. E. P. Lee: How is it a scandal if they are within their rights? Mr. McCombs: They arc exercising I legal rights, but thsy have no moral right to do what lias been done.. I say that the boundary commissioners in their wisdom thought Kaiapoi should contain a population of nearly 16,01)0, but because of the petitions in connection with the matter they reduced it to 14,025. Mr. McCombe concluded by declaring that the MeC'allum clause increasing the population margin was a mistake, as it enabled the Boundary Commission to do as they pleased. Mr. H. E. Holland said that there was a suspicion that the Boundary Commissioners were not free from political influence in fixing the boundaries. He made no charge, but the "Westport News," a Reform paper, did so. It had stated editorially that in connection with the re-di6tribution of the boundaries of the Buller electorate geographical considerations bad been set aside in order that political considerations might weigh. That was a charge made by a Reform paper. The position was that a certain area had been tacked on to Buller which made it safer for the speaker, but if it bad gone into the two adjoining electorates the sitting members would have been endangered. Mr. Jones (Kaiapoi) was apparently waiting his chance to speak, but Mr. Holland had not concluded when the discussion was adjourned till next day.