GIVE M.P.'S A RISE

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 483, 12 October 1928, Page 12

GIVE M.P.'S A RISE

MR. SIDEY’S PARTING ADVICE £450 A YEAR INADEQUATE Press -Association WELLINGTON. Thursday A salary of £450 a year j s quit _ inadequate for a member of Par l iament. says Mr. T. K. Sidey j n 2 statement on the subject of *al> aries and superannuation of par! liamentarians. Mr. Sidey, who hat retired from politics, acted at chairman of the committee which investigated the question of sal aries recently, and he thinks the time opportune for putting the need for a revision before the public. "As I am no longer seeking re-elec-tion I can now speak on thjs subject with greater freedom and from a disinterested point of view.” aays Sidey. “The honorarium for many years took the form of a sessional allowance. It was assumed that members had other sources of income and had private work to do during recess. It is now a salary, and there is ever-increasing number of member* for whom the honorarium is their onlv means of livelihood. WORK NEVER DONE "Following are some of the consiUorations bearing on this question:-! ”(1) The work of a member of Parliament does not end with the ses! sion. Ilis work is never done, ijl is always at the beck and call of hi* constituents. He has never- endin'correspondence, he has frequent cal't to attend public functions and he mus give consideration to many question.! likely to come before the House “(2) Every three years he has to contest an election. Legislature contemplated expenditure for this purport of £2OO, based on pre-war valucv When indirect expenses are taken into account it costs many members much more than that. “(3) He has to live in Wellington for from four to even six months and in most cases has to maintain hihome in another part of the Dominion at the same time. “(4) He has to meet many claims for public and private subscriptions“(s) His duties involve travelling expenses, more or less depending on the constituency he represents. When all these considerations are taken into account it will be recognised that £450 is quite inadequate as a salary and is not to be compared with the salary of similar amount paid to an officer of the Public Service. “There is only one Australian State that does not pay its members more than they are paid in New Zealand, and that is South Australia, whose population is not more than 500,000. Tasmania, whose population is not 250,000. pays some of its members more and some less, the salaries ranging from £370 to £SOO. In New South Wales salaries are £875. New Zealand, a* a Domihion, occupies a higher status than any of the Australian States. SUPERANNUATION “On the question of superannuation for members of the House of Representatives a scheme was worked out under which, by the annual payment of £IOO, a retiring allowance of £l5O might be granted to a member who had served for three Parliaments or nir.e years, the amount to be increased by £25 for each additional Parliament and rising to a maximum of £250 for service in seven or more Parliaments. An interesting feature of actuarial calculations irr this connection was that the pdlitical mortality of a member of Parliament decreased as his number of Parliaments increased, his greatest chance of political extinction being after his first Parliament. “One of tlie objections raised during the expiring Parliament to giving effect to proposals for an increase of salaries or superannuation was that these questions were not before the country at the last election. My object in drawing public attention to them now is that they may not be lost sight of during the approaching elections and that the objection mentioned may not be available in the new Parliament to which members may be returned, having expressed themselves definitely on these questions during the campaign now in progress.”