THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is Incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY. “Public Service.” WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5, 1944. LOCAL BODY ELECTIONS

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 53, Issue 32417, 5 April 1944, Page 4

THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is Incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY. “Public Service.” WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5, 1944. LOCAL BODY ELECTIONS

Stern opposition to the Local Elections and Polls Amendment Bill in the House of Representatives has achieved at least some good. The Government has accepted several ijnportant amendments and has agreed to refer the whole question of local body organisation, responsibility and privileges, together with matters of franchise, to a select committee of the House—after the Bill has been passed. The Opposition’s contention that the inquiry should be held before the Bill was passed was perfectly reasonable but it was rejected, as was the proposal that a Royal Commission should sit instead of a select committee of the House, to remove the matter from the realm of party politics. The Government’s admission that an inquiry is essential should have been a sufficient reason for the postponement of the highly contentious legislation. The results of the inquiry are almost certain to demand another overhaul of the legislation. There have been few more remarkable instances of the cart being put before the horse, It can only be concluded that the Government has some special reason for wishing the new legislation to be in operation durng the local body elections next month. The result will be that legislation which is resented by a large section of the community will be in operation until the select committee has completed its task and its findings are expressed in new legislation. Memory of the Hon. W. E. Parry’s attempts to “rationalise” the local body system of New Zealand suggests that the present amending legislation will be in operation for a long period, unless its operation proves to be impracticable. The Opposition is not opposed to the extension of the franchise if responsibility also is extended. Fortunately the good sense of the public will render more or less harmless many' of the anomalies which the legislation has made possible. For instance it is unlikely, though still possible, that a local body employee will control his own actions by being his own councillor-employer.