REPRESENTATION ON BOARD

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23447, 30 September 1941, Page 10

REPRESENTATION ON BOARD

♦ MINISTER’S REPLY TO CITY COUNCIL “ADVERSE INFLUENCE AT WORK ” “I can assure the City Council that I realise fully the disability now placed upon it by the peculiar distribution of local authorities which obtains in Christchurch, and I can only reiterate my assurance that when the projected Education Bill is under discussion consideration will be given to the representations of your council,” states the Minister for Education in a letter to the Christchurch City Council on the council’s complaint regarding representation on the Christchurch Technical College Board. “I regret to learn from your letter of September 2 that the City Council has again failed to secure direct representation upon the Board of Governors of the Christchurch Technical College at an election which was recently held. It is apparent from the statement in your letter that there is some adverse influence at work to exclude the City Council’s nominee, whatever his qualifications for service. “This is a fact which is much to be regretted, for it points not only to the unreasonableness of the election committee but also to a possible defect in the relevant section of the act. It was certainly the intention of the act that direct representation of the most important local authority should in general be included amongst those elected to represent local author!, ties; and, as I have explained in my previous letter to you on the subject, similar difficulties have not arisen in other places.”