M.P'6 SALARY RISE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 8, Issue 52, 27 February 1945, Page 2

M.P'6 SALARY RISE

MR W. SULLIVAN'S VIEWS

WRONG TIME CHOSEN

"An increase in the honoraria ot members of Parliament was a definite and clear plank in the policy of the National Party during the election campaign." said Mr W. member for the iiay of in addressing a meeting of Gisborne and Bay of Plenty National Party supporters. "Having told the people that if we got into office we would increase members' how could we consistently oppose such an increase just because we did not get in and because the proposal was contained in a bill introduced by the Labour Government?" Mr Sullivan said that his personal opinion was that the right thing had been done at the wrong time. His view was that before stabilisation became operative anomalies in the wage and salary structure —including the lower paicl civil servants and members of Parliament— should have been -adjusted. If that had been done all wages, and incomes could have "stayed put." Since it had not been done then the anomalies had to be removed later. A number of members of the National Party in Parliament had been opposed to the Mr Sullivan added. They had agreed to acquiesce in it, not because they wanted it for but out of consideration, for quite a number of members to whom the existing remuneration had been a real hardship.*