GETTING THINGS DONE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20287, 21 December 1927, Page 9

GETTING THINGS DONE.

NEW SOUTH WALES PREMIER. COMMMUNITY BEHIND HIM. (Special to Daily Times.) WELLINGTON, December 20. “Mr F. R. Bavin (Premier of New South Wales) is doing well. He is doing things as he said he would, and I think that he has the most of the community behind him.” With these words Mr E. S. Marks, M.L.A. for North Sydney, who arrived by the Marama, described the commencement of Mr Bavin’s administration in New South Wales. “ It has been a short emergency session, of course,” said Mr Marks, “ only four months, but things have been accomplished. The Sydney Municipal Council has been abolished, and a commission will bo put in shortly. To this commission there have been appointed Mr Morton, the city engineer of Melbourne and brother of the late Mr W. H. Morton, city engineer at Wellington, and Mr Garlick, the president of the Main Roads Board. The Arbitration Court has been altered to provide for the appointment of three judges with equal powers instead" of only one, and two well-known young barristers —Mr Street and Mr Cantor—have been appointed to act with Mr Piddington. Money received under the main road tax which the Lang Government allocated to other purposes has been handed back to the main road funds, and following a ruling of the Arbitration Court that the unionists at the Broken Hill works in Newcastle were entitled co complete preference, a decision which affected 50 per cent, of the workers, the Government introduced and carried a measure doing away with this. The commissioners appointed to administer the affairs of Sydney are to act for two years, at the end of which time the Government purposes introducing a Greater Sydney Bill which will provide for the amalgamation of a number of lesser boroughs with the city.” Another measure of interest to New Zealand, said Mr Marks, was that which dealt with the “ tin hares,” The New South Wales Parliament had decided to prohibit absolutely “tin hare” racing, trotting, and any other sport where bookmakers were present at night. In the work of the session use had to be made of the “ guillotine ” or closure which was introduced by the Lang Government last year. “During the next session, said Mr Marks, “ Mr Bavin proposes dealing with further matters contained in his policy speech. He means to go into the question of the promised alteration to the Upper House which it is proposed should be elected, being composed of 60 members with a modified franchise, returned for a fixed term. Electoral reform will also be a big feature in the next session, the idea being to substitute for the present °4 single seats 84 single seats, this figure being arrived at by allowing three members for each of the 28 Federal electorates in New South Wales. It is also proposed to use only one roll—the Federal roll—instead of dual State and Federal rolls. This system will give the city and country equal representation in the Legislative Assembly. The present Act provides for optional preference voting, and with this it is not intended to interfere. The greatest fight will be over the alteration to the Upper House. The House seems to be in favour of Mr Bavin. It has backed up the whole of his so far, and on the question of the abolition of the Sydney Muncipal Council, which was a party measure, there was a good majority. The Lang Government made 24 appointments to the Council last year, and this year Mr Bavin has appointed another five.

“ A humorous side of the Act to end the existence of the Sydney Municipal Council is that as an alderman of the city of eight years’ standing I voted for my own abolition.”