M.P.’s new chance?

Press, 3 February 1979, Page 4

M.P.’s new chance?

B'. DEREK ROUND, NZPA political correspondent Wellington Parliaments youngest member, Miss Marilyn Waring. who is 26, will be the new chairman of its powerful Public Expenditure Committee Miss Waring, a former National Partv research officer and political science tutor at Victoria University, has befn a member of Parliament since 1975 when she won the Raglan seat. She won the new blue-rib-bon Waipa seat in the last election. Miss Waring, an active feminist, will take over as chairman of the Public Expenditure Committee from Mr R. L. G. Talbot, now Under-Secretary of Agriculture and Fisheries. The committee. which) scrutinises Government expenditure, has authority to make its own investigations into spending by departments and can call departmental heads and other officials before it to answer questions One of its more publicised investigations was made in 1977 when it looked into spending by Television One and the National Film Unit

> on the television series, “The Governor.” Miss Waring was not immediately available for com- :• tnent but friends said she was “thrilled” with her new i fob. • There was speculation that r she might have been in line for an under-secretary’s post ■ in the Cabinet reshuffle i after the election but she missed out, as did two other Hamilton members, Mr M. J. . Minogue and Dr I. J. Shearer. Like them, she has a repu- . tation for independence and outspokenness which some political observers felt did not endear her to the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon). But Mr Muldoon is now giving ) her a chance in'one of the , most important, committee positions. The nomination of chair&of select committees is by the Prime Minister and Government Whips in consultation with the Nat--1 ional Party caucus. Membership of the select ■ committees, on which Gov- ; emment and Opposition ’ members are represented, is expected to be worked out I in the next week or two. t New committee chairmen > include Mr E. S. F. Holland, ■ who was dropped by Mr t Muldoon as Minister of

Housing in the Cabinet reshuffle, and who will be chairman of the Social Services Committee, formerly headed by Mr M. L. Wellington, the new Minister of Education. Mr P. I. Wilkinson, who gave up the Attorney-Gen-eral’s job because of his health, will be chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, whose previous chairman was Mr Talbot.

The controversial member of Parliament for Invercargill (Mr N. P. H. Jones) who was wounded three times and lost a leg in the Second World War, is the new chairman of the Defence Committee.

The job was previously held by the former Marlborough member, Mr E. G. Latter, who retired last year. Another Southland member of Parliament, Mr W. R. Austin, will take over from the Minister of Maori Affairs (Mr Couch) as chairman of the Maori Affairs Committee.

Mr B. E. Brill, a lawyer, who was considered unlucky to have missed a Cabinet post because of the Kapiti seat wrangle, is named as chairman of the important Statutes Revision Committee, headed previously by the new Attorney-General (Mr McLay).