LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Northern Advocate, 31 October 1936, Page 6

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

AMALGAMATION LEGISLATION

A A Local Government Amalgamation Schemes Bill introduced and read a first time.:

The-,Hon. W. E. Parry said he looked upon the Bill as a very important one. It was a thorny problem, and that was why it had not been considered before. He did not want to cast any reflection upon previous governments or any section of people who had taken a prominent part in local government. Those men for the most, part made sacrifices, and had rendered excellent services towards the development of the Dominion, and, as a matter of fact, they often received nothing but criticism from the community. They deserved the congratulations of any Minister who had time to peruse the development of local government in New Zealand. He did not want any section of local government representatives to feel that he was casting any aspersions or reflections upon them. He commended those who had taken an enthusiastic interest in local government work in , the past. He believed failure to deal with the matter in the past was due entirely to the minds of New Zealanders being specifically fashioned upon a parochial basis. The real, difficulty had been failure of a national conception of the work of local body government, and that was the central feature upon which the Bill was based