Members’ Salaries Up; 20 p.c. More For P.M.

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30562, 3 October 1964, Page 1

Members’ Salaries Up; 20 p.c. More For P.M.

(New Zealand PreSt Association)

WELLINGTON, October 2.

Large salary increases, which range from £lOOO for the Prime Minister to £6OO for members, are recommended in the report of the Royal Commission on Parliamentary Salaries tabled in Parliament today. In 1961, a similar commission granted increases ranging from £5()0 to £l5O.

If approved, the new salaries and allowances will be made effective as from July 1 this year.

The Prime Minister’s new salary would be £5750, compared with his present salary of £4750. No change has been recommended in his expense allowance of £l6OO. A domestic staff of one is to be paid for officially.

The report also increases the salary of the Deputy-Prime Minister from £3350 to £42so—a rise of £9OO. There is no change in his expense allowance of £6OO.

Ministers’ salaries rise by £B5O from £3150 to £4OOO with no change in their expense allowances. Where the ministerial office of Minister of External Affairs is held by a minister other than the Prime Minister an additional allowance of £lBO is recommended. An increase from £2500 to £3250 is suggested for ministers without portfolio and from £2250 to £3OOO for Parliamentary Under-Secretaries. A salary rise to £3400 from £2700 is recommended for the Speaker, plus a basic expense allowance as a member, plus £350. An increase of £6so—from £2lOO to £27so—is sought for the chairman of committees, as well as a basic expense allowance of a member plus £2OO. The salary of the Leader of the Opposition is increased from £2600 to £3400 with no change in an expense allowance of £550. The DeputyLeader of the Opposition has a rise from £l7OO to £2400, as well as a normal allowance as a member, plus £l5O. Members’ salaries are increased by £6OO from £1550 to £2150.

The special salary allowances for Government and Opposition whips rise from £75 to £lOO for chief whips, and from £5O to £65 for junior whips. The report also recommends an increase in the basic expense allowance of members. It would range from £450 to £750 according to the classification of the electorate, plus additional allowances for Maori electorates. At present members are paid an allowance varying from £350 to £650 a year, depending on whether their constituency is rural, ruralurban or wholly urban. The new additional allowances would be: electorates wholly urban, £25; electorates substantially urban. £5O: elector-i •tes partially urban and parti- 1

ally rural, £125: electorates ordinary rural, £250; electorates predominantly rural, £3OO. Southern Maori Also recommended is a special additional allowance for the Southern Maori electorate of £125 and for each of the Maori electorates, £5O. In the category of travelling allowances and expenses, the daily allowance for ministers is increased from £4 4s to £5 5s a day or part of a day. The car allowance of the Leader of the Opposition is increased from £3OO to £6OO a year. For travelling expenses outside his electorate the allowance rises from £215 to £4OO. The commission also recommends additional use of official cars for the Speaker when engaged on official duties and a travelling allowance of £5 5s a day for a minister when engaged on official duties. For members, the commission recommends unrestricted free air travel within New Zealand and reimbursement as would apply for public servants • travelling when there is no public transport to the nearest airport, etc., in certain circumstances. The monthly allowance of stamps for members is increased from £5 to £7 with these exceptions: the Leader of the Opposition from £l2 10s to £l7 10s worth of stamps each month, the Member for Lyttelton from £5 to £8 worth of stamps each month. One additional typist for each party while Parliament is in session is recommended for favourable consideration.

Superannuation The report also recom- ’ mends that provisions retro- ' spective. to October 1, 1964, and similar to those provided ; in superannuation legislation relating to State servants. , should be included in the ; Parliamentary superannua- ; tioa scheme to provide for: Dependent children on the . death of the contributor. . A widower totally or parj tially dependent on a deceased female contributor immediately before her death. Subject to minimum quali- ■ fications of two years .in

office, annual payment at the rate of £2OO for each full year in office is recommended for former Prime Ministers, but with a maximum of £lOOO a year after retirement or when a member only. Provision of one-half of this amount to a widow of a Prime Minister is also recommended. Free use of official cars up to £2OO a year for Mr Walter Nash is further urged in the report. The net result of increases to parliamentary salaries, particularly where these involved moving into the sphere of maximum tax, would be much less than appeared, states the report. It was important that any increase warranted should be directed primarly to salary, with the consequent obligation to pay full tax. Wives’ Travel Wives of parliamentarians are included in several recommendations. They include:— Additional payments for wives of ministers when accompanying their husbands on official duties. This amounts to an allowance of £5 5s a day. A similar payment is recommended for the wife of the Speaker: Free air travel for wives of members within their electorates when attending functions of an official nature;

Free air travel for the wife of the Speaker when the Speaker uses air travel on official business and his wife is required to be present. Twenty-four free single trips a year for the wife of the Speaker between the Speaker’s electorate and Wellington. Three people will be affected if a pension to former Prime Ministers or their widows, is granted by Parliament. The pension would be payable to the former Prime Minister, Mr Nash, Lady Holland and Mrs Gordon Coates. Car Expenses The major ground ,of complaint for Parliamentarians’ basic expense allowance was in respect of car expenses and replacement of cars, according to the report. Even in compact urban electorates, the . evidence showed an annual mileage of 7000 miles or more. In some of the larger rural electorates this rose to 20,000 miles or more. “We are quite satisfied that on this ground alone a case has been established for a further increase.” A suggestion that the Government build a block of flats to accommodate Parliamentarians in Wellington is not commented on by the commission. Its report says this is a matter of policy on which it expresses no opinion. The commission said evidence showed that too many members lived under conditions in Wellington which fell short of what it believed should be the minimum standard for members of Parliament.