More Estimates Passed

Northern Advocate, 31 August 1938, Page 9

More Estimates Passed

l Per Press Association. Copyright .] j WELLINGTON. This Day. ! Yesterday afternoon, the House of I Representatives went into Committee jsi Supply .for consideration of the I Estimates. i The Audit Department vote of j £44,950 was passed, with little dis- ! cession. i Names Off Roll. On the Electoral Department vote 'of £105.769. Mr W. J. Poison 'Oppsn.. j Stratford) drew the attention of the House to numerous complaints con- ! coining enrolment on the main electoral rolls. Ho said complaint was l general all over New Zealand, and j there were hundreds of eases where j people had been struck off the rolls j without any apparent reason. He instanced a ease where two people had | been living in the same residence for j many years, but had been struck off I the rolls.

The Minister of Education, the Hon. Peter Fraser, on behalf of the Minister in Charge of the Electoral Department, the Hon. H. G. R. Mason, sad that often people had become confused between the municipal and electoral rolls. Mr Poison: This is not a case of confusion. They were struck off the rolls by the department, which said it was unable to find' them at their address.

He continued that he was not suggesting there was anything sinister in the number of people being struck off the rolls, but these mistakes were altogether too frequent. Voting by Declaration. The Hon. P. Fraser replied that he thought Mr Poison had served a very good purpose in bringing to the attention of many people outside the House the necessity for seeing that they were on the rolls. His experience, he said, was that when people came to vote at a general election and discovered they were not on the rolls, they were well advised to vote by declaration and fight the matter out afterwai’ds.

Mr H. Atmore (Indpt., Nelson) suggested that steps should be taken to acquaint the public of the right to vote by declaration. Mr S. G. Smith (Oppsn., New Plymouth) asked if the department was doing anything to secure enrolments. He suggested that the Government should appoint canvassers to overcome the difficulty. The coming election would be one of the most important in New Zealand’s history, and for that reason it was essential that all persons should be on the roll.

Unavoidably Defranchised. - - Replying to a question by Mr R. A. Wi'ight (Indept., Wellington Suburbs), the Minister said quite a number cf people were unavoidably disfranchised under the present system, which was in need of reform. Seamen were one class in particular who suffered from this disability. The suggestion had been made to allow people to cast their votes through the High Commissioner’s Office in London, but there was a difficulty of getting the papers back to New Zealand before the closing of the official count. The problem had been gone into by the chief electoral officer once, and would be taken up again. The Leader of the Opposition, the Hon. Adam Hamilton, asked if it would be possible for a person reaching the age of 21 between the date of the closing of the roll and the date of the election to cast a vote.

Mr Fraser: He is out definitely. Mr Hamilton: I have been told that he can vote by declaration. Mr Fraser: Quite wrong. He can't vote unless he is on the roll.

Mr Hamilton replied that it seemed a little unfair that a person in this category who was keen to vote should not have the right to exercise a declaration, while another person who was too indifferent to put his name on the roll should not be debarred. Mr Hamilton mentioned that though the South Island lost one electorate in the last electoral boundary revision, the average total of the population per constituency in that part of New Zealand was 380 more than in the North Island. “They should have left that seat alone,” he added.

Mr H. S. S. Kyle: We were promised that the question of retaining South Island scats would be looked into, but nothing has been done, and we lost another member.

Mr Fraser: And a good member, too. The vote was passed. New Planting Office. Dealing with the Printing and Stationery Estimate of £279,655, the Minister in Charge of the department, the Hon. P. C. Webb, said the present works were a disgrace to the Government and the country, and (here was great overcrowding of staff. The Government had come to the conclusion that it was absurd to patch up air old building, and a new one was needed. It would be built on the section behind the old railway head office. The estimated cost of the building was £580.000. Provisional plans had been completed and £30,000 was being provided on Ihc Estimates. The vote was passed. Coal Mining Rescue Station. Provision of £4OOO on the Mines Department Estimates of £38,000 for the establishment of a rescue station in connection with coal mines was the subject of an explanation by the Minister of Mines, tire Hon. P. C. Webb, who said it was proposed to levy the coal mining industry Id. per ton on output to meet the expense of this station, which would be erected

at Dobson, the most central position in that mining area where gaseous conditions prevailed. The equipment would include a special motor truck, so that in case of trouble it could be rushed to a mine with safety apparatus. The station would be completely equipped as a life-saving station. Men would be trained in the use of the apparatus, and other stations would eventually be established elsewhere. He hoped to sec the new buildings completed within a few months.

The Mines Department" vote was passed, as was the State Coal Mines Department vote of £387,797. and the House adjourned at 5.28 p.m.

Five classes of Estimates were passed during the afternoon, totalling £856,171. and the total Estimates passed so far this session total £23,508,741,