PUBLIC WORKS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 59, 10 March 1936, Page 7

PUBLIC WORKS

REVIVAL IN N.S.W. SY r DNEY, Fvl>. 2J. In view of the important public works under consideration by the State Go-vernmeut, it is expected that a move will be made in Parliament shortly for the reconstruction of .Public Workii. committee. This committee is provided by Statute so that Parliament may refer to it v.’C-rks proposals, such as new railway lines, for full inquiry and report. Originally the committee was established in 1888 by the Parkes Government, Sir Henry Parkes arguing that there was a duty to preserve the power l Parliament an unimpaired as pos■e over the whole province of public * enditure. The committee was dei gnod as a check on misdirected expenditure or extravagance. Future Spending. The. Act provides that the committee shall be constituted afresh with each Parliament and that all public works involving an expenditure of £20,000 shall be referred to it for inquiry after being explained to Parliament. Owing to the cessation of publac works during the depression the committee lias not functioned since .1930. In recent years, however, millions have been spent on public works and a number of members of Parliament consider that the committee should be sot. up. .It is pointed out that the com miltee has power to call evidence, and that ite inquiries are held in public and fully reported. Thus, not only Parliament, but the public, are informed on any project on which it is proposed to spend a large sum of public money.