Parties’ Views On N.S.W. Upper House

Press, Volume C, Issue 29498, 27 April 1961, Page 15

Parties ’ Views On N.S.W. Upper House

( W .2 PJL .•Reuter—Copyright) SYDNEY, April 26. Fifteen members of the New South Wales State Legislative Council elected at the triennial ballot last month were sworn in yesterday at Government House.

They were elected to hold office for 12 years—but next Saturday’s referendum will decide whether their term will be the shortest in the history of the century-old Upper House. The referendum will determine whether the Legislative Council will be abolished. More than 2m persona will be able to decide its fate. The governing Labour Party wants the Upper House abolished. The opposition Liberal and Country Parties oppose the move.

But the various campaigns do not interest many of the public, and it will not surprise if there is a record number of non-voters and informal votes

The Labour Party says the council is not elected by the people but by joint vote of the Legislative Assembly and Council. Thus the people have no say in electing whom they would like, nor can they have them dismissed. The Premier (Mr R. J. Heffron) has said that because it has power without responsibility, the council is nothing more or less than a dictatorship. Mr Heffron said the council was the relic of the colonial period, a bulwark of

conservatism against the will of the people. Although the Upper House was supposed to be one of review the counciHors did not review legislation, but “obstruct, flout and emasculate it when it conflicts with the pressure groups they represent.” Mr Heffron said

The Liberal and Country Parties claim abolition ot the council would destroy a Parliamentary system which exists in almost every country in the world.

They suggest the abolition proposal was forced on the Government by the Australian Labour Party conference. the real master of the party.

The move, the opposition parties say, is for a bid for total power. The Labour Party seeks control of power by the Trades Hall. | The opposition says this ex- 1 plains the keenness of the Communists to see the abolition because although they have no power in Parliament, they exert powerful influence in Trades Hall circles. It is also suggested that with no Upper House the Labour Government would be able to abolish the office of State Governor. amend arbitration penalty clauses, “rig" electoral laws and boundaries, and set up SP. betting shops. The public has had little to say about the referendum, but observers expect the proposals to be rejected.