The Press TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1965. Keeping The Law Up To Date

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30897, 2 November 1965, Page 18

The Press TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1965. Keeping The Law Up To Date

Major debates on a few items of legislation have tended to obscure the nature of most of the laws enacted by Parliament this year. The House considered no fewer than 130 bills—Government measures, private members’ bills, and local bills. This might seem a weighty addition to the Statutes and a formidable increase in the laws likely to control, restrict, or in some way interfere with the actions o' citizens. In fact, much of the legislation this session should enlarge the scope for action, change, and development Many new laws authorise action or expenditure to meet the requirements of a growing economy; many should improve Government administration; many more bring the law into line with social and economic developments which have been moving ahead of the law.

The law has been amended to recognise the use of aircraft for chemical spraying and the employment of helicopters. Numerous small changes have been required for the introduction of decimal currency. Harbour works and the development of harbour board property have induced Parliament to authorise the raising of loans for nearly £6 million; and it has empowered the Auckland Harbour Bridge Authority to widen its bridge to eight traffic lanes. The State has been empowered to give financial support to the iron and steel industry; and provision has been made for the mining of iron-sands in State forest areas. In passing the New Zealand-Australia Free Trade Agreement Bill, Parliament has confirmed efforts which should have a profound effect on the future of the country even if the immediate economic gains are not spectacular. Changes in the Petroleum Act allow for prospecting the continental shelf; and the Territorial Sea Act provides for an extended fishing zone. The Standards Act is an attempt to put the preparation and promotion of standards for commodities, processes, and practices on a better footing. Two bills were designed to improve local body administration by amalgamating harbour boards in Northland and in Taranaki. The Companies Act and the Joint Family Homes Act have been amended to accommodate more conveniently the growth of flat ownership. A clause in the Harbours Amendment Bill provides for regulating the use of surfboards, a measure which has been found necessary in other countries and is fast becoming necessary here.

An aroused public conscience is reflected in the changes in property law to prohibit racial discrimination in sales or leases; the Police Offences Act has been amended to permit the sale of Sunday newspapers. In some cases the law has been found inadequate to achieve its original purposes. The Civil Defence Act now requires positive efforts by local authorities to ensure that civil defence plans can oe implemented should the need arise; and the new Extradition Act should serve present needs much better than the 1870 United Kingdom law on which New Zealand has hitherto relied. More sophisticated laws have been found necessary to prevent the pollution of navigable waters by oil from shipping; and the 1960 Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea has been given effect to in the Shipping and Seamen Act Other new laws are directed to detecting and eradicating livestock diseases. Measures to prohibit collusion among traders over prices and to outlaw collective tendering are an important protection for the consumers.

Consolidating legislation this session included the Building Societies Act, which revises a law little amended since 1876, and the Narcotics Act, which acknowledges the growing social evil of the drug traffic by authorising stricter controls and increasing penalties for offences. Changes in the Electoral Act to fix the number of South Island seats in Parliament at 25, the News Media Ownership Bill, and other controversial bills have dominated public interest in Parliament; but it should not be overlooked that Parliament has put in much solid work this session in keeping the law up with the times.

Respite In Rhodesia If Mr Wilson’s mission to Salisbury has accomplished no more than postpone a unilateral declaration of independence for several months, it was worth while. There is a chance—just a chance—that the mission may have opened the way to alternative to the fateful declaration, not just its postponement. This much can be read into the key statements oy the two Prime Ministers: “We can, given the time, get a “settlement” (Mr Wilson); “I ask Rhodesians to “ wait a couple of months for a negotiated independ- “ ence ” (Mr Smith). The African nationalist leaders have rejected the idea of a commission out of hand. As neither the African People’s Union nor the African National Union will be represented on the proposed commission, their respective leaders (Mr Nkomo and Mr Sithole) may have felt bound to dissociate themselves at once from any report the commission may bring down.

It is difficult to imagine a commission comprising the Chief Justice of Rhodesia (Sir Hugh Beadle) and nominees of the British and Rhodesian Governments finding a compromise acceptable both in Westminster and in Salisbury, after the failure of Mr Wilson and Mr Smith—and their predecessors—to do so. It is unlikely, even, that the commission will be able to reduce the great gap which separates the British and Rhodesian Governments on the crucial question of parliamentary representation for Rhodesia’s four million black inhabitants. But the “ couple of months ” —a euphemism, surely, for six months or more—which must elapse before the completion of a Royal Commission’s report will allow tempers to cool. The respite might also allow face-saving formulas to appear, provocative promises to be forgotten. In this lies the main hope of a peaceful solution in Rhodesia.