AUSTRALIAN.

Hokitika Guardian, 14 October 1922, Page 3

AUSTRALIAN.

AU3TUAI3AN AND N.Z. CABLE AHSOCIrVION FEDERAL M.l’.’s SALARIES. MELBOURNE, Oct. 12. The members of the House treated Mr Hughes’s proposal to reduce their salaries largely as a farce. The debate was punctuated with much laughter and chaffing.

Mr Hughes’s introducing speech was lukewarm. He contended that the members were worthy of a higher scale of pay, in view of the increased cost of living in recent years. Then he declared the cost of living was now falling with a consequent reduction in wages. The Ministry, he said, could not ask the country to accept the position without asking Parliament to set an example. • The two leaders of the Opposition and the Country Parties opposed the Bill, v They regard the submission of Ihe proposal in the dosing days of Parliament, when the members’ are about to lace their constituents as being smart electioneering tactics. Sonic members declared that they would pro- . fer no payment to the inadequate re- 1

numeration proposed. Mr Hughes expressed disappointment at the reception of the Bill. Erom the outset, however, it was plain the measure was foredoomed, and what was anticipated happened. The Income Tax Bill, covering the reductions promised in the Budget speech, passed all stages.