PARLIAMENT LOCAL ELECTIONS

Greymouth Evening Star, 21 September 1946, Page 6

PARLIAMENT LOCAL ELECTIONS

CHANGE TO DATE IN NOVEMBER PROVISIONS OF BILL (P.A.) WELLINGTON, Sept. 20. The time for the holding of elections for local authorities is change,d from May to 'November, and a reversion is made to mid-week polling by the Local Elections and Polls Amendment Bill, which was introduced and read, the first time in the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon. The Bill provides that next year and in future, elections shall be held on the last Wednesday in November. The present position is that the next elections are due to be held on the third Saturday in May, 1947. There is also a provision in the Bill concerning enrolments. It is proposed to authorise local body officers to use the Parliamentary rolls for the compilation of the local body rolls. This will apply only in those cases where the residential franchise operates. The Bill also gives the right for a ■residential elector to make a declaration vote if his name is not on the local body roll, but is on the Parliamentary roll. ; It is also proposed in the Bill to abolish the occupier’s qualification, and the husband, and wife qualification. It is stated this provision will mainly affect boroughs, and certain specially constituted local authorities. A further provision fixes a uniform closing day for all local body rolls, and a uniform nomination day for elections. Following the reversion to Wednesday polling, the closing hour of the poll is extended in all cases to seven o’clock in the afternoon. TRAINEESAND trade COMPETITION (P.A.) WELLINGTON, Sept. 20. It would not be advisable to allow trade training schools to compete against commercial firms for work, said Mr. C. M. Bowden (Opposition, Wellington West), discussing the vote on the Estimates for the Rehabilitation Department in the House this afternoon. He said master printers in Wellington had contributed funds and technical advice to establish a trade training school which was now canvassing for commercial work, and officers had been sent to Australia to procure additional equipment. Mr. Bowden considered that if the school were to continue commercial competition, there might be danger of the master printers losing interest in the scheme. The Minister of Rehabilitation, Mr. Skinner, in reply, emphasised that vocational training centres were for disabled men who could only be trained if they had a wide range of work, which they required to keep them going. The object of their training was to release them to industry, but if this was not possible, the department liked them to feel that they had a job in the centres without having to go home and live on the economic pension. It was true that they were in competition, but opposition to the printing trade was not of serious dimensions. The vote was passed. Several other classes of estimates were put through without discussion. The votes passed during the day totalled £9,974,971. Two Bills were introduced before the House rose at 5.30 until 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday. .