COST OF PARLIAMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20959, 24 August 1931, Page 6

COST OF PARLIAMENT.

REDUCING MEMBERS.

. - / , ANNUAL SAVING £43,000.

CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE SCHEME

The difficult period through which New Zealand is passing has caused serious consideration to be given to the question of reducing the membership of the Legislative Council and the House of Representatives, on the score of economy and greater efficiency, states a bulletin issued by the Associated Chambers of Commerce of New Zealand. The matter has now been ventilated on the floor of the House, which shows that 'politicians themselves are becoming alive to the advisability of a reduction in the . number of New Zealand's legislators. A change in the constitution of Parliament has been advocated before now by . the associated chambers, whose suggestions on the subject have been conveyed to the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the Labour Party. These suggestions * are that so far as the Legislative Council is concerned, no new appointments and no re-appoint-ments of members whose terms of office expire should be made so long as the number of members of the Council exceeds twenty. This would in time effect an appreciable economy, but the saving would be small in comparison with that to be gained by a reduction in membership of the House of Representatives. At the present the House comprises 76 members representing European electorates and four representing Maori electorates. It is not proposed to alter the number of members representing Maori electorates, nor is it intended that any alteration should be made in the application to districts of the licensing laws. One divided Electorate. It is proposed that the number of members representing European electorates be reduced by half—that is, to 38. This could be achieved at the elections this year by each member being elected to represent an area to be arrived at by combining two of the present electorates. As the number of existing European electorates in each is/and is an odd number, one of the new constituencies will need to comprise one of the existing electoral districts in the North Island and one in the South Island. - There is no real objection to the election of a member by a constituency situated partly in the North Island and partly in the South Island. Great Barrier Island is at present included in an electorate comprising also part of the North Island, Stewart Island is included in an elector ate comprising also part of the South Island, and the Chatham Islands are in a similar position. The communication be. tween the North and South Islands by way of Picton is excellent, and each part of an electorate divided by Cook Strait could easily be attended to by one member. Communications generally have greatly improved since the present number of members representing European electorates was fixed in 1900. Method of Procedure. The method of procedure proposed is that the grouping of electorates be done by the two Representation Commissions already constituted under the Electoral Act, 1927. The North Island and South Island ' Commissions sitting together could define the new divided electorate, and then, separately, group in pairs the remainder of the existing electorate districts in their respective islands. In this way the whole matter can be adusted in time for the forthcoming elections, and the grouping so fixed can remain in force until the next census. The savings to be'effected by the reconstitution of Parliament on the lines suggested will not merely be the salaries and incidental expenses of 38 members of Parliament. There will also be a large saving by reason of shorter sessions and improved efficiency generally in the conduct of the business of the House. It may reasonably be expected that the length 'of a session will l>e half. Parliament in /session to-day costs £L a minute, so that the saving will be considerable. Still further economies should be made by the consequent reduction of the work of certain Government departments. If members of Parliament themselves avi 11 not carry into effect a reconstitution of their numbers, then a referendum could he taken. Estimates of Savings. Following is a conservative estimate of the larger savings to be effected by the i proposed reduction in membership of the House of Representatives: — Salaries, House of Representatives.— Eighty members now receive £4l5_ per annum, two of them receiving additional emoluments as holders of offices oi Speaker and Chairman of Committees. Disregarding these latter and also Ministers salaries (£ll3O plus £IBO house allowance), which includes honoraria as members, the salary cost is £33.200. Salaries of 38 members would amount to £15,770, representing a saving of £17,430. Incidental Expenses Both Houses. Voted 1930-31. —Railway passes and concessions to members and ex-members of Legislature, families, etc., £25,635; steamer passages—members £I2OO, wives, £200; sleeping berths —members, £110f); railway lounge scats—members, £150; lounge seats and sleeping berths—wives, £150,j refund to Post' Office, being difference between cost of special and ordinary teregrams, £1200: total, £29,635. Estimated saving, £15,000. Saving in Sessional Expenses.—lt is probable that the'session would be shortened by upwards of one-half. Salaries of permanent (minimum) staffs of Bellamys (approximately £3000) and Hansard (approximately £6000) would not normally be affected. For 1930-31 £4600 was voted for sessional messengers, £IOOO was voted' for extra clerks, and £I9OO was voted for extra staff for Bellamys. Estimated saving £3500. ' The/sum of £5500 was voted for printing of Hansard. Estimated saving £2OOO. An amount of £2OOO was voted for fuel, power, lighting and water, Salaries.—Legislative Council. —Thirtyfive members' at present. Normal strength approximately 40, although it lias reached nearjy 50 in the past. A reduction to 20, preserving the normal ratio with the House of Representatives, would effect a sdving of £4252. (Each member receives £283 10s per annum.) General Election.—Cost in 1928, apart from licensing poll (£13,000) was approximately £57,000. Of this amount £30,000 was allocated for thfe preparation and printing of electoral rolls. The balance included the cost of the establishment of polling booths, advertising, ballot papers, postage and telegrams, remuneration of returning officers and poll clerks. Saving mifidit be stated (spread annually) at £IOOO. The total annual saving by reducing members to 38 and 20 in the House of Representatives and Legislative Council respectively, would be, on the basis of the foregoing calculations, approximately £43,000.