NO WAGE-CUT.

Grey River Argus, 14 October 1922, Page 5

NO WAGE-CUT.

FOR FEDERAL M.P.’s. OPPOSITION PARTIES OPPOSE. [A. and N.Z. Cable Association.] MELBOURNE, October 12. The members of the House treated Mr Hughes’s proposal to reduce their salaries largely as a farce. The debate was punctuated with much laughter and chaffing. Mr. Hughes’s introducing speech was lukewarm. He contended that the members were worthy of a higher scale of pay, in view of the increased cost of living in recent years. Then he declared the cost of living was now falling with, a consequent reduction in wages. The Ministry, he said, could not ask the country to accept the position without asking Parliament to set an example. The two leaders of tho Opposition and the Country Parties opposed the Bill. They regard the submission of the proposal in the closing days ot Parliament, when the members are about to face their constituents as being smart electioneering tactics. Some members declared that they would prefer no payment to the inadequate remuneration proposed. Mr Hughes expressed, disappointment at the reception of the Bill. From the outset, however, it was plain the measure was foredoomed, and what was anticipated happened. The Income Tax Bill, covering the reductions promised in the Budget speech, passed all stages.