Local Government Reform

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21907, 7 October 1936, Page 8

Local Government Reform

There will be more regret than surprise pver the news that the Government’s Local Body Reform Bill may not be proceeded with this sesSipn. For six years now successive Ministers for Internal Affairs have been promising local government reform and then discovering excellent reasons for waiting just a little longer. This, time the excuse is that the session has to be cut short because of the impending departure of the Minister for Finance, It may be suspected, however, that the real reason is what it has always been: the strong representation of local bodies in Parliament and the consequent reluctance of members to assent to a measure which will inevitably result in the elimination of many of these bodies. Mr Parry can hardly plead that there has been no time to frame a bill. The Department of Internal Affairs has not been overworked lately and in any case has a mass of material on its files relating to local government reform. Nor has Parliament been under heavy pressure of business; for the last month, indeed, its proceedings have been almost leisurely. It is difficult to escape the conclusion that, if the Government was really in earnest about local government reform, the necessary legislation would have been bn the statute book weeks ago. If the delay continues for a few more years, there will, outside the municipalities, be very little local government left to reform. Hardly a session of Parliament passes without legislation restricting the powers and the discretion of local authorities. This year Mr Semple’s transport and highways legislation has further reduced the powers of county councils; and it is fair to say that if county councils were abolished to-morrow and their functions transferred to the Public Works Department and the Transport Department there would be no loss in administrative efficiency. The choice is between local government reform and the extinction of local government in the rural areas.