WORK OF REFORM

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16534, 29 December 1927, Page 11

WORK OF REFORM

“MB. BAVIN DOING WELL”

NEW SOOTH WALES POLITICS

“Air. Bavin is doing well. He is doing things, as he said he would, and 1 think that ho has the most of the community behind him.” With these words Mr. K 8. Alarks, AI.L.A. for North Sydney, described to a Wellington reporter the commencement of Air Bavin’s adminstration in New South Wales.

“It has bean a short emergency session, of course,” said Air. Alarks. “Only two months, but things have been accomplished. The (Sydney 'Council has been abolished, and a commis.sion will be put in shortly, and to this commission there have been appointed Mr. Alorton (the city engineer of* Melbourne, and a brother ofl the late Air. W. H. Morton, city engineer at Wellington), and Air. Garlick, tho president of the Alain lloads 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 Air. Cantor, have been appointed to act with Air! Piddington. ■Money received under the main road tax, which (Ihe Lang Government allocated to other purposes, has been handed back to the main road funds, and following a ruling of the Arbitration Court that tho unionists at the Broken Hill Works in Newcastle were entitled to complete preference, a decision which affected 50 per cent, of tho workers, the Government introduced and carried a measuro of doing away with this. “Tho commissioners appointed to administer the affairs of Sydney are to act for two years, at the end of which time the Government purposes introduce mg. a Greater Sydney Bill, which will' provide for the amalgamation of a number of lesser boroughs with tho city.

THE “TIN MAKES”

“Another measure of interest to New Zealand was that which dealt with the 'tin hares.’ The New South Wales Parliamlnfc decided to prohibit absolutely ‘tin hare’ racing, trotting, and any other sport whore bookmakers were present at night. In the work of the session use had to be made of tho ‘guillotine,’ or closure, which was introduced by the Lang Government last year. “During the next session Air. Bavin proposes dealing with further matters. He means to go into the question of the promised alteration to the Upper House, which it is proposed should be elected, 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 94 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. Also, it is 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 interefere.

“VOTED FOB MY OWN • ABOLITION’

“The greatest light will bo over the alteration to tho Upper House. The House seems to bo in favor of Air. Bavin; it has backed up tho whole of liis legislation, so far, and on the question of the abolition of the Sydney Alunicipal Council, which was a party measure, there was a good majority. The Lang Government made 24 appointments to tho Council last year, and this year Air. Bavin has appointed another five. ,

“A bumbrous Bide of the Act to end the existence of. the Sydney Council is

that as an alderman of the city "of eight years’ standing, 1 voted for my own abolition.”