Emergency powers valuable — P.M.

Press, 25 February 1980, Page 4

Emergency powers valuable — P.M.

PA Hamilton The power the New Zealand Government had to pass emergency legislation rapidly was valuable in today’s world, said the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon). In times of emergency it was usually a simple matter for the Cabinet to meet, resolve that a change' in the law was necessary, have it drafted immediately, get the approval of caucus, take it to the House and force it through in a single sitting, he said.

“This procedure has been used in time of severe industrial unrest and indeed it has occasionally been used with the agreement of both sides of the House, as in the time of the Kirk Labour Government a few years ago when the harbour pilots went on strike and could have tied up all the shipping in New Zealand ports.’’

But. Mr Muldoon said, it was not power that should be used frequently or other than on the most serious and urgent occasions.

Mr Muldoon, in an address to St Paul’s College in Hamilton, said the New Zealand single-cham-ber parliamentary system had this important advantage over the American system of checks and balances, the Australian federal system, and the British system of an Upper and Lower House.

Many people thought that having such a power took people’s freedom, but they overlooked a very important aspect for New Zealand: that there was a three-year Parliament. “Many'people say that three years is not long enough for a Government to put its economic policies into effect. But I believe that multiples of three years gives ample opportunity for any gov-

ernment to put its economic policies in effect, and that at the end of one three-year. period the public" can get an idea of what the Government has in mind and hopefully give it a second and later a third term,” Mr Muldoon said. “The public memory is short. To test that I suggest that you try to think what were the 'political issues of just this time last year. If you try to think back four years to what the Government of the day was doing I think that you would, as most people do, find it quite impossible. “Given the longer period in Government than three years then, a New Zealand Government could use the emergency power that if has in the almost certain knowledge that by the time the election came around all the public indignation would have died away and be just a distant memory. “My answer to the critics who say that the speed with which law can be made in New Zealand is bad is that there are times whenit is necessary. “But so long as we have a three-year term for our Parliament any Government that uses such powers excessively will be thrown out at the end of three years. That is a far more important sanction than the frustrating checks and balances of either /.he American system or the federal system as in Australia or even indeed the two chamber system of other countries,” Mr Muldoon said.