ADDITIONS TO RANKS

Southland Times, Issue 22915, 13 June 1936, Page 8

ADDITIONS TO RANKS

SECRETARIES TO MINISTERS DEFINITE STATUS TO BE GIVEN RELIEVING PRESSURE OF WORK (From Our Parliamentary Reporter). Wellington, June 12. The probable appointment of addiaonal Parliamentary Under-Secretaries to Ministers was indicated to-day by the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage) in an interview. The Parliamentary Under-Secretaries, he said, would be given a definite status under new legislation to be brought down in the second half of the session, and additional appointments were likely to be made in order to relieve members of Cabinet of the present heavy pressure of work. At the moment there is only one Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Mr J. A. Lee, M.P. for Grey Lynn, who acts in this capacity to the Prime Minister. During the past few months Mr Lee has been actively engaged on various special duties and inquiries, and has had much more work to do than an ordinary private member. The new procedure would place him on a definite status with his duties, unless, of course, he is granted full Ministerial rank. In the meantime, no official information can be obtained on this latter point, although it is freely stated that Mr Lee is a strong candidate for Cabinet office. A Valuable Training. Although Mr Savage would not discuss names or portfolios in outlining the desirability for additional appointments of Parliamentary Under-Secret-aries he said that it was obvious that

< some Ministers were handling more work than was reasonable. If Undersecretaries with a proper status were attached to those Ministers, they would be able to carry cut many of the official duties. In addition to lightening routine work, the scheme would provide valuable training for the younger members of the Government Party, who, in the future, might be candidates for full Cabinet rank. “I have made inquiries into the British system of Parliamentary Undersecretaries,” Mr Savage said. “All the details are not applicable here, but I am satisfied that appointments can be made which will operate to the benefit of the Government and the country as a whole.”