M.P.’S SALARIES

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 15, 12 October 1928, Page 14

M.P.’S SALARIES

A MATTER FOR ELECTORS TO CONSIDER SUPERANNUATION ALSO

The following statement was issued ast night by Mr. T. K. Sidey, M.P., on lie subject of members’ salaries and superannuation:—

"During this Parliament I have acted as chairman of the committee which has considered the question of members’ salaries and superannuation. As 1 am no longer seeking re-election I can now speak ,on this subject with greater freedom and from a disinterested point of' view. “The honorarium for many years took the form of a sessional allovyance. It was assumed that members had other sources of income and had private work to do during the recess. It is now a salary and there is an everincreasing number of members for whom the honorarium is their only means of livelihood. Following are some of the considerations bearing on this question : —

“(1) The work of a member of Parliament does not end with the session. His work is never done. He is always at the beck and call of his constituents. He has a never-ending correspondence. He has frequent calls to attend public functions, and he must give consideration to the many questions likely to come before the House.

“(2) Every three years he has to contest an election. The Legislature contemplated an expenditure for this purpose of £2OO based on pre-war values. When indirect expenses are taken into account, it costs many members much more than that;

“(3) He has to live in. Wellington for from four to even six months, and in most cases has to maintain his home in another part of the Dominion at the same time;

“(4) He has to meet many claims for public and private subscriptions. “(5) His duties involve travelling ex? penses more or less depending on the constituency lie represents.

“When all these considerations are taken into account, it will be recognised that £450 is quite inadequate as a salary, and is not to be compared with the salary of a similar amount paid to an officer of the public service. There is only one Australian State that does not pay its members more than they are paid in New Zealand, and that is South Australia, whose population is not more than half a million. Tasmania, whose population is not a quarter of a million, pays some of its members more and some less,: the salaries range from £370 to £5OO. In New South Wales the salaries are £875. New Zealand as a Dominion occupies a higher status than any of the Australian States. Supcraiuiuation. “On the question of superannuation for members of the House of Repre? sentatives. a scheme was' worked out under which by an annual payment of £lOO a retiring allowance of £l5O might be granted to a member who had served for three Parliaments, or nine years, the amount to be increased by £25 for each additional Parliament, and rising to a maximum of £250 for service in seven or more Parliaments. An interesting feature of the actuarial calculations in this connection was, that the political mortality of a member of Parliament decreased as his number of Parliaments increased, his greatest chance of political extinction being after his first Parliament.

“One of the objections raised during the expiring Parliament to giving effect to the proposals for an increase of salaries or superannuation was that these questions were not before the country at the last election. My object in drawing public attention to them now is that they lie ■ lost sight of during the approaching elections, and that the above objection may not be available in the new Parliament, to which members may be returned having expressed themselves definitely on these questions during the campaign now in progress.”