Cabinet post delay

Press, 20 December 1978, Page 6

Cabinet post delay

By-

CEDRIC MENTIPLAY

Mr B. E. Brill, the new member of Parliament for Kapiti, will have to wait some months before he gets the place in the Cabinet of which he seemed assured before the General Election The delicate balance of votes in the Kapiti poll was one of the reasons that the an-i nouncement of Mr Muldoon’s Cabinet was delayed more; than a week. Now, after a. magisterial recount, Mr Brill has succeeded by 23 votes.! But all Cabinet posts have; been filled, and there is no immediate likelihood of Mr Muldoon's making a change.

This would be true if the magisterial result were the! last word on the subject. But the Leader of the Opposition (Mr Rowling) says that Labour is considering the possibility of an electoral petition to the Supreme Court.

Although Mr Brill’s name! was frequently mentioned as'

a possibility for the Cabinet, it was not mentioned speci-

fically in relation to any portolio. Mr J. K. McLay, agec 33, was made Attorney General and given the Justice portfolio — which might have been intended originaly for Mr Brill — and there is little likelihood that this de-

cision will be reversed. Mr Brill, a barrister and solicitor, aged 38, was chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committees on Broadcasting and Island Affairs.

and was on the committees >n Statutes Revision, Human Rights, and Foreign Affairs. He is chairman of the National caucus committees on justice, economics, agriculture, town planning, local government, social welfare,

housing, tourism, and public works.

This impressive list of interests, however, may not immediately benefit a member with such a narrow margin.