MEMBERS’ PAY.

Waipawa Mail, Volume LXII, Issue 21, 1 November 1933, Page 3

MEMBERS’ PAY.

AN INCREASE UNLIKELY. “CUT” RESTORATION FIRST. WELLINGTON, Last night. There is no prospect of members of the- New Zealand Parliament following the example of their counterparts in Australia and giving themselves a rise in salary. Nevertheless, New Zealand members are taking- keen interest in the decision of the Commonwealth Parliament that its members are entitled to a further £75 pel annum, making the total annual payment to each £875. It is not the feeling that they are over-paid which keeps members of the New Zealand Parliament from giving themselves an increase. What deters them is public feeling, for they fully realise that such a step would be tantamount to political suicide. To-day a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives receives £365 a year, and a member of the Legislative Council £255. With the exception of South Australia and Tasmania, members of both New Zca land Houses receive less pay than do members of the Australian State Parliaments —institutions without halt the power or responsibility of the New Zealand Parliament. AUSTRALIAN RATES. In New South Wales members of the Lower House receive £706 per annum, and members of the Upper House are paid nothing; Victoria pays £402 to members of the Lower House and £177 to members of the Upper House; Queensland has only one Chamber, the members of which are paid £500; members of both Houses in West Australia receive £4BO. In South Australia, also, there is no difference in the scale of pay in each House, the members of both receiving £300; and in Tasmania the scale of pay is governed by the area of the electorate and the distance from Hobart, the amount varying from £296 to £4OO. There are 665 legislators in the Parliaments of Australia, of whom 112 are in the Commonwealth Parliament and the remainder, 453, in the State Houses. New Zealand has 80 members in the House of Representatives and 21 in the Legislative Council. Members of both New Zealand Houses had their year of plenty in 1920, when the honoraria was the largest ever paid—£soo to members of the House of Representatives and £350 to the “Lords.” Back in 1892, when the payment of members on an annual basis was instituted, the salary of Legislative' Councillors was fixed at £150; in 1904 it was raised to £200; in 1920 it went up again to £350; 1922 saw a- drop* to £315; ten years later a 10 per cent, cut brought it down to £283 10s, and this year another cut brought it to £255. Members of the House of Representatives, who for many years had been paid £3OO per annum, got a rise of £2OO in 1920, but successive cuts in 1922, 1932 and 1933 brought it down to £365. PUBLIC FEELING.

As with almost everyone else in the community there is probably not one member of either House who would admit privately that he thought he was amply rewarded for his labors. Each would point out the heavy costs of being a member of Parliament, the- large amount which has to be paid out during election periods, and the expenditure entailed on maintaining- two homes. At the same time, it is certain that few, if any, would vote for an increase in salary at the present time.

Although in many respects members lose touch with public feeling, they know too well what the reaction would be to a move to increase their salaries. Before such a step could be contemplated they would have to restore to the Public Service at least the last two 10 per cent. cuts. They also remember the public reaction to the bonus of £IOO which they voted themselves in 1929 for that year only. “There is no chance in the wide world of our following Australia’s lead,” commented a prominent Parliamentarian to-day. “It would be starting at the wrong- end. While I admit that the Parliament of New Zealand has never been adequately paid, there is no question that those who have suffered wage reductions would have to have their status restored before anything is done for us. Australia, of course, is in a better position than New Zealand to do something for its legislators, due largely to the price wool is now commanding.”