Casting vote by Speaker saves bill

Press, 17 April 1982, Page 2

Casting vote by Speaker saves bill

Parliamentary reporter A Casting I 'vote by the Speaker of the House (Sir Richard Harrison) .was all that saved a Government bill from defeat in .. Parliament yesterday. ’ • The Transport Amendment (No. 2) Bilk presented by the Minister, of Transport (Mr Gair), had been debated for introduction- for more than an hour. < r The Bill increases registration, annual relicensing, and change of ownership fees for motor-vehicles in the 1982-83 year and the next year, on the ground that they had not been adjusted for inflation since 1977/

When the question was put that the bill be introduced, the House tied 38 votes to 38. Social Credit voting with the Labour Party. Minor disarray followed, the Opposition calling for the resignation of the Government, and Government members seeking an explanation for the. absent vote that would have given them their maximum margin of one over the combined votes'of Labour and Social Credit.

Calling the House to order, the Speaker rose to make his ruling. The proper course of actjon, based on a study of precedent, was that ■ he should exercise,., his. casting -vote to give opportunity for further debate on the bill, he said. Accordingly, he voted in favour of the introduction of the bill.

The Chief Opposition Whip, Mr J. L. Hunt, said that the Government Whips were in error. They had not applied to the Opposition Whips for a pair, for the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Mr Cooper) who was absent with leave of the House.

The . standing down of one

Opposition vote for the absent Government vote would have restored the Government’s majority of one. Mr Cooper was at Government House for a credentials ceremony, a matter of official business for which a pair would have been granted.

Mr Hunt said that the error would occur again, and would at some stage bring the Government down on an important measure.

The Press Association reported that when asked why the Government did not ask for a pair for Mr Cooper, the Chief Government Whip, Mr D. C. McKinnon, said: "It was one of those ones which came up pretty late. We knew we still had the numbers."'

Mr Cooper had been given leave to attend the function, and his office said it thought he had a pair. In spite of Mr McKinnon's statement, Government members of Parlianjent appeared to be surprised when the result of the vote was announced. The bill has at least three more voting stages to go through before it becomes law.

Mr R. W. Prebble (Lab., Auckland Central) said it was the first time in New Zealand’s history that a levy was being taxed for a year ahead of the present one. • "The last person who tried that was Charles I and he had his head chopped off,” Mr Prebble said. Mr Gair said the reason .for the increase for a year ahead was to account for inflation. As Parliament did not have time to meet to increase the fee before it was due, it was felt best to do so in advance.