Buller By-Election

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29832, 26 May 1962, Page 10

Buller By-Election

The Government is wrong in postponing the Buller byelection until July 21; this deprives the people of Buller of a member of Parliament for longer than is necessary. The people’s right to representation outweighs the convenience of the Government; and their right should be interfered with only in “ exceptional “ circumstances ” —to quote a former National Party At-torney-General, Sir Clifton Webb. Normally, the Buller by-election would have been held in the first half of June, but by Order-in-Council (under the authority of a 1954 amendment to the Electoral Act) the Government has authorised the Clerk of the Writs to postpone the issue of a writ Discussing the clause in the 1954 amendment, Sir Clifton Webb said there

were occasions when it was impossible to carry out the letter of the then law strictly. He said the amendment made it clear that the Clerk of Writs should issue a writ as soon as reasonably practicable after receiving the Speaker’s warrant, but in any case within 21 days, “ with the quali- “ fication that in exceptional “ circumstances such as, “for example, to avoid the “ holding of an election at “holiday time or Christmas “time—the period may be “ extended to 42 days ”. The probability of a by-election at Timaru, which will be caused by a pending resignation, is certainly not an “ exceptional circumstance ” that justifies depriving Buller of a member of Parliament for three weeks or a month. What other circumstances are there?