Elective Upper House

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 678, 1 June 1929, Page 8

Elective Upper House

Work of Legislative Council

rIOUGHTS of the coming Parliamentary session next month have brought to the minds of many people thoughts of an elective Legislative Council, provision for which is already on the Statute. The United" Government is unlikely, except under heavypressure, to change the system of appointments which has operated for 75 years.

gATURDAY of last week marked the 75th anniversary of the first meeting of the New Zealand Legislative Council held after the establishment of responsible government in the colony. It coincided with a suggestion made last week by the farmers in the Auckland Province, by no means the first of its kind, that the Upper Chamber of our Parliament should be made elective.

The early conclave, which was held at Auckland on May 25, 1854, comprised 14 members —the first appointees to the council under the Im-. perial Act —and began in a modest way its emulation of the British House of Lords. The Act providing for the appointments specified that there should be not less than 10. Sixteen were chosen to be the first council and 14 of them attended the first sitting. There is no specified limit to the membership, and the choice of councillors is in the hands of the Government of the day. For 30 years after the first appointments, the numerical strength grew steadily and in 1885 had reached 53. That is the highest it ever was. In recent years it has been tacitly agreed that round about 40 is the appropriate membership, and successive Cabinets, including the present United Ministry, have worked on this understanding. RECENT CHANGES

The present strength is 41. Prior to the General Election last year it was 40, but the change of Government in November last necessitated the appointment of a Government supporter, Mr. T. K. Sidey, to the position of Leader of. the Legislative Council, while the former Leader, Sir Francis Bell, retains his seat as a councillor until the expiration of his seven-year term beginning in May of 1926.

Appointments are for seven years. Before 1891 members were selected for life, and the Speaker was chosen by the Governor. More democratic are the methods of the present day. The Speaker is elected within the

council and he holds office for five years. Legislation is already on the Statute for an elective Legislative Council, to be brought Into force at any time by proclamation. This measure, the Legislative Council Act, passed in 1914 during the regime of the late Mr. W. F. Massey, divides the Dominion into four electoral divisions —two in the North and two in the South —and arranges for the selection by the people of 40 Legislative Councillors, opportloned to the islands on a population basis. In addition, the Governor-Gen-eral is empowered to appoint not more than three members of the Maori race.

Today the Hon. Wiremu Rikihana is the sole representative of the natives in the Upper House, though his race was ably represented there for many years by the Hon. Sir James Carroll, who died in 1927 after a notable political career. RESTRICTIVE BODY

The appellation “old men’s home,” which is frequently applied to the Legislative Council, probably originated in the fact that most of the members are veteran politicians of mature age and judgment—men who have seen much of the Dominion’s public life, and who are relied upon to exercise a restrictive influence upon any questionable legislation which might be sent forward by the House of Representatives. Long allegiance to parties, too, often helps a man to the plush-covered benches in the Upper Chamber.

The Legislative Council is essentially a part of our administrative system, and exercises an active privilege in the passage of our laws. It may, with rare exceptions, veto or amend legislation, although once the House of Representatives has passed a Bill three times the Legislative Council, though perhaps still opposing it, will generally allow it to become law.

Members of the Upper House receive £315 a year for their services. Originally they were paid by the session, but various amendments to the Statute have left them with steady jobs for seven years at £6 a week.