LIFE OF PARLIAMENT

Waipa Post, Volume 49, Issue 3505, 14 August 1934, Page 5

LIFE OF PARLIAMENT

ORIGIN OF QUINQUENNIAL TERMS. Writing on the subject of the life of Parliament, Mr P. J. O’Regan, of Wellington (a former M.H.R.), mentions some most interesting facts about our legislature. We quote: “The debates upon this subject in Parliament show how utterly bankrupt the Government is of reasons for the abolition of triennial Parliaments. Any dispassionate critic who will examine the facts must admit that the Act of 1879 fully proves the prescience of New Zealand’s greatest statesman, Sir George Grey. The Constitution Act of 1852 ordained quinquennial Parliaments for this country, ana such Avas the state of law from 1852 to 1879, a period of 23 years. During that time we had five Parliaments, or which only three lasted five sessions, and we had 18 Ministries. S'nce 1879, that is to say in 55 years, every Parliament has lasted its normal tims, the only exception being during the war, when the term was extended, and the present is tlie seventeentn Ministry. Thus we have the most convincing proof that triennial Parliaments have produced political stability in the best, sense. “It is interesting to recall how New Zealand came to adopt triennial Parliaments. The Grey Government came into power in mid-October, 1877, definitely committed to three principles, namely, manhood suffrage, triennial Parliaments, and the imposition of a land tax. Its first work was to secure the passing of the Property Asses*ment Act, under which a flat tax o? one halfpenny in the pound was levied upon the unimproved value of land. Nothing causes such perturbation in the House of Have as the taxation of the unimproved value of land, and accordingly the squattocracy had recourse to every imaginable trick for the purpose of securing the defeat of the Government.

“Ultimately they succeeded in detaching four Auckland members who were supporters of the Government and. thus they secured a majority by which they were able to carry a want of porf deuce motion and so Sir John Hall, the prince of Canterbury “gridironers.” and Major (afterward Sir Han'v) Atkinson assumed office. Natinlally the first work of the new Government was to repeal the land tax before any revenue had been colleetee thereunder, but in order to give tinfour deserters a reason for justifying their conduct the new Governmen* solemnly committed itself to the adoption of triennial Parliaments, and so the Act of 1879 became law. Accordingly it bad its origin in the consent of both the parties into which Parliament was divided in those far-off days. The two facts, that every Parliamen? since has gone its full term, and that we have had only 17 Ministries in 55 years as against 18 in under 23 years of five-year Parliaments are enoucr to mstify the departure made in 1870. “I repeat that the new departure had its origin during the election campaign of 1925, when Mr Coates, to pm cate a powerful section of his supporters, committed himself to quinquewn;al pai-liaments. Mr Coates, of course, conveniently forgot his pledge to the electors when, addressing a meeting at Auckland in April, 1926, on behalf of Sir James Gunson, he stated in language that could not well bs plainer that nothing would be done to alter the term of Parliament without a clear mandate from the people.