ACTION RESENTED

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 36, 11 August 1934, Page 10

ACTION RESENTED

LOCAL BODY REVENUE

GOVERNMENT "INROAD"

PROTEST IN HOUSE

A protest against the principle of the Government making inroads into tho revenue of local bodies was made in the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon, when tho Second-hand Dealers Amendment Bill was under discussion. The Bill transfers the power of granting second-hand dealers' licorices from local authorities to a Magistrate, and tho foes which formerly went to local authorities will now be paid into tho Consolidated Fund. Mr. E. Semple (Labour, Wellington East) said that the local bodies did not object to the loss of revenue involved, but to the principle of the Government taking over their sources of revenue. They did not know where it was going to stop. He had received the opinion of the officers of the Wellington City Council on the Bill, and their contentions were worthy of consideration. They' were just as anxious to protect the interest of the city as any departmental officers, and were anxious about the, Bill because they did not know where the principle was going to stop. The Wellington City Council was tho licensing authority for heavy traffic, which'was efficiently controlled, and the council officers were afraid that the revenue from heavy traffic fees might next be taken by the Government. Section 4 of the Second-hand Dealers Act, 1908, stipulated ' that before a local body issued a second-hand dealer's licence it must obtain tho approval of the police, and surely that was sufficient safeguard against licences being issued willy-nilly to persons who were not entitled to them. • Tho Minister had not quoted one case in which_ a local body had failed to carry out its obligations. There was.no justification for ■ the Government interfering with the administration of local bodies over their local affairs, especially when tho local,'bodies'.were better qualified than ihe Government to carry out tho work. The local bodies were directly responsible to their ratepayers, and that fact alone was sufficient to ensure, that they-would carry out their duties in the interests of the citizens./ "COMIC OPERA" LAWS. There was no urgency for tho Bill, said Mr. Semple. The Government should be grappling with tho real problems of the day rather than passing "comic opera" legislation for which there .was no demand. Tho people from North Cape to Bluff were crying out for a solution of the country's problems, and yet the Government was wasting time and money on miserable little Billa for which there was absolutely no need. Mr. H. G. Dickie (Government, Patca): The time is being wasted on-the other side of the House. The Prime Minister (the Kt. Hon. G. W. Forbes): Hear, hear. Mr. .Semple' said that the Labour Party^ had refrained from talking in the Address-in-Eeply debato in order that Parliament might come to grips sooner with the real problems of tho day. Ho urged the Minister at least to hear the views of local bodies before proceeding further with the passage of the .', Bill, for!which there scorned to be absolutely no need. . MANY COMPLAINTS. , , ''The member for Wellington - East works himself up into a state almost of frenzy," remarked the Prime Minister. Mr., Semple:- Oh, no. '.Mr. Forbes said that there had been a good deal of complaint in regard to stolen articles that could not be traced because they had been disposed of. The position was not as satisfactory as the member for Wellington East would suggest. A tightening-up was required, and that was the reason for the transference of the ;granting.of the licence from a local body to.a Magistrate. At' present the Magistrate granted auctioneers', moneylenders', pawnbrokers', and land agents' licences. > , Mr. J. A. Lee (Labour, Grey Lynn): What about the amateur who collects trousers for relief workers?. Mr. Semple: The Wellington City Council never issues a licence unless with the consent of the police. 'Mr. Forbes, said that at present individuals who should not get licences were getting them. , . ."FILLING IN MIME." The Leader of the Opposition (Mr. M. J. Savage) said that under tho law «t present the local authority had no right to issue a licence without the recommendation of the chief police officer of the district, and if the system was At fault it ■ must be tho fault of the police. Ho was not prepared to believe that ■ altogether, as tho police were pretty keen. "This is filling in time, and I want to protest again against this method," he said. "There is nothing in tho Bill worth talking about, apart from taking away from the local authority some powers it formerly had. Second-hand dealing is one of the country's main industries now." It was for the House to say whether it would allow the rights of local bodies to be frittered away.

The Bill was read a second time on the voices.