SALARIES OF JUDGES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20965, 31 August 1931, Page 12

SALARIES OF JUDGES.

QUESTION OF REDUCTION. DECISIONS IN AUSTRALIA. Three Judges of the High Court of Australia informed the Prime Minister, Mr. Scullin, recently that they are not prepared to accept a reduction in salary, but that they are willing to forgo a travelling allowance of £4 4s a day to which they are entitled when absent from, the State in which they reside. The other three Judges of the Bench have decided to pay into Commonwealth revenue the sum of £750 each, which represents a reduction in their salary for the year of 25 per cent. The decision of the Judges is announced in a reply to a letter sent to them by Mr. Scullin, in which it was suggested that they might be prepared to volunteer a reduction in salary in view of the condition of the Commonwealth finances.

The dissenting Judges said they were unwilling to do anything to affect _or weaken the section of the Constitution providing that the remuneration of Judges shall not be diminished during their continuance in office. The decision of tho three Judges to pay £750 into Commonwealth revenue makes their contribution equivalent to tho maximum reduction to which they would be liable had Judges been included within the scope of the Financial Emergency Bill. It is stated in legal circles in Sydney that tho £4 4s a day travelling allowance which the Chief Justice (Sir Frank Gavan Duffy), Mr. Justice Starke and Mr. Justice" Evatt had offered to forgo would probably amount to about the same as the direct payment, £750, which tho other three Judges, Mr. Justice Rich, Mr. Justice Dixon and Mr. Justice McTiernan, had agreed to make. It is understood that in some cases the amount expended during tho last financial year by certain Judges exceeded £750 a year.