VOTING SYSTEMS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 306, 28 December 1931, Page 2

VOTING SYSTEMS.

"P.R." BILL NEXT SESSION.

PRIVATE MEMBER'S MOVE.

ADVANTAGES OF MEASURE,

An intimation that during the next session of Parliament he would revive his Proportional Representation Bill was given by Mr. J. McCombs, Labour M.P. for Lyttelton, in the course of an interview whilst in Auckland during the holidays. Mr. McCombs who for many years has been a close student of electoral systems throughout the world, and is regarded as one of the authorities on the subject in the House, commented that the recent general election showed the need foi electoral reform in the direction of proportional representation, but not in so striking a fashion as had the British elections. There the Labour party had polled 0,600,000 votes. and obtained 51 representatives, while the Liberals, polliiirr 1,900,000 votes had secured 65 members. Had the British Labour party received the representation to which it was entitled in proportion to its numbers, it would have secured 187 seats, and not a single Labour nicinbei would have been defeated. With a House properly constituted, as would be the case under proportional representation, the predominant political party before enacting legislation, would be able to obtain the full voice of the nation in connection with all the proposals advanced. Not Preferential Voting. "It is important," continued Mr. McCombs, "that proportional representation should not be confounded with what in England is known as the alternative vote, and what has been known in New Zealand as preferential voting, the object of which is conclusive majority representation. Without going into details in connection with this system, it is sufficient to say that the British Proportional Representation Society, whose membership comprises those best informed on the question of electoral representation, definitely takes up the attitude that, rather than have preferential voting, it would retain , the first-past-tlie-post system! There is only one real form of electoral representation, and that is proportional representation." Under the present system in New Zealand, an undesirable situation was liable to be created when the cities returned Labour candidates and most of the country districts Conservatives, with a resultant cleavage of town and country interests on the floor of the House. Under proportional representation each party would have representatives from all over the country, and would be compelled to consider every national .problem from the point of view of both town and country. Last Election Results. 'If we take the 54 seats contested by the Labour party at the recent general election," Mr. McCombs added, "it is probably safe to say that Labour, on this occasion, secured the number of members it was entitled to. Obviously, there are 20 other electorates, not exclud-' inrr the Maori constituencies, whereLabour would have, .under proportional representation, secured representation. It was, of course, purely a- matter of chance that the result was what it was."

Mr. McCombs said tliat early next session he would revive liis Proportional Representation Bill, witli the object of opening up the whole matter. The subject of proportional representation was not foreign to Aucklanders, by reason of the work done on the question by the Hon. Sir George Fowlds.