The Northern Advocate Daily “NORTHLAND FIRST” SATURDAY. JULY 9, 1938. Local Body Mergers

Northern Advocate, 9 July 1938, Page 4

The Northern Advocate Daily “NORTHLAND FIRST”

SATURDAY. JULY 9, 1938. Local Body Mergers

Registered for transmission through the post as a Newspaper

THERE arc 684 local bodies in New Zealand. If the Hon. AY. E. Parry, Minister of Internal Affairs, lias his way their number will be considerably reduced. But, as Mr. Parry admitted in the House yesterday, he lias so far not made mneb tangible progress toward ibis objective, and there appears to ho no likelihood that legislation concerning it will appear this session. It is, possible that after the election, unless the Government again has a large majority, Mr. Parry may prefer to forget all about it. for a measure of this kind is the sort of thing which may prove a serious embarrassment to the party sponsoring it. Local feeling against mergers has already manifested itself, for Mr. Parry, when twitted in the House yesterday, denied that by postponing action he was retreating from his principles. Actually, he claimed to have found support'among local bodies for the general principles of a reduction in their number, but discovered, too, that local bodies which supported the general principle were the first to object if it was suggested that they themselves should be eliminated. It appears from this that local bodies all agree that sonic of their number are superfluous, but will never agree as to which ones they are. If Mr. Parry sets out to determine this question for himself, he will encounter a great deal of opposition. There is nothing so jealous of its existence as a small local body, clothed in the dignity of its administrative powers. Besides, nearly all such bodies could, on close analysis of their work, offer a good case against their abolition. Mr Parry’s difficulty will be to convince people in the areas affected that what he lias to offer them will be made efficient, and more beneficial to them, than their present local authority. He will probably encounter a good deal of scepticism. There is a certain healthy rivalry between many country towns in New Zealand. If one such town is the centre of a district which Mr. Parry proposes to merge with another, in which there is a rival town, people in the first town may well he distrustful of a scheme which will place their future destinies in the hands of their rivals. But the matter goes beyond, mere parochial jealousy. .As was pointed out by speakers ai the recent dinner to local bodies in Whaugarei, members of local authorities bring to their tasks an infinite knowledge of small and apparently trivial matters, which seem utterly unimportant to an outsider, but which are possibly very important indeed to the local residents affected by them. Could centralised administration provide that same precise and sympathetic insight into local problems? Mr. Parry will say that it could, but many members of local authorities, with long years of experience to back np their opinions, will take leave to differ.