Political Outlook

Taupo Times, Volume XIV, Issue 65, 19 August 1965, Page 2

Political Outlook

The taking o£ "urgency" to expedite the passage o£ the Electoral Amendment Bill through Parliament does not mean that anything very urgent is intendedt either in giving the South Island an extra seat or in stabilising the number o£ members in the House of Representatives. Before anything can be done, a census must be taken and its results recorded. The census date is March 22 of next year — but its results will not be known in time

for the boundaries to be redrawn or the number of seats readjusted in time for the general election of November, 1966. Indeed, it is unlikely that the Electoral Boundaries Commission will sit at all on the question of new boundaries until 1967 and 1968. By that time, of course, the Government elected in 1966 will be well on the way to preparing for the next election. And the new boundaries will finally mean something in the general election of 1969. So actually there is a complete lack of ''urgency" about the whole business. An independent and non-political authority could still spend up to three years in finding a better way of doing things — and in deciding whether or not the Maori seats should be incorporated in the so-called European ones — and still not waste the country's time. » >}f * The National Housing Conncil, which has not met for mere than four years, is fated to remain off the actiTe list for at least another six months. For some time, sections of the building industry have been asking the Government to reconvene the council, which between 1953 and 1963 was able to provide an accurate forecast of housing requirements. These requests have been backed independently by the Monetary and Economic Council, which believes that the fixing of housing targets five years - ahead would have a stabilising effect on the building industry. The Minister of Industries and Commerce, Mr Marshall, recently disclosed, in answer to an inquiry from a commercial source, that as far back as last November, Cabinet had decided to defer for 12 months any consideration of calling the council together. A recent meeting of Cabinet has confirmed this decision. Mr Marshall said that the Government had preferred to put restraints on the commercial rather than the housing section of the building industry. Activity on the commercial sector had been restrained by the ai>pointment of a building programmer — but the finance provided in the current Estimates would enable the calling of tenders for the

same number of State housing units as in each of the last four years. The whole matter would be considered again next November. * Hf * The commissioning of one obsolete Bathurst-class minesweeper to giiard our coastal waters when the Territorial Sea and Fishing Zone Bill becomes law next January 1 is not regarded as an effective measure by a majority of New Zealand's offshore fishermen. The ship concerned was given to New Zealand by Australia some years after World War II as part of a general house-cleaning by the Royal Australian Navy. She and her sisters are still performing various chores when called upon — but even if New Zealand put four of them at sea, to assist the existing five fishery patrol launches, the chances of the fish-poacher would still be very high. The 12-knot minesweeper and her small consorts wiU have a mammoth task patrolling the 36,000 square nautical miles which will

then comprise our territorial and fishing zones. At present our territorial waters comprise only 9000 miles, which are patrolled by launches with R.N.Z.A.F. assistance. The indications are that this patrolling has not prevented poaching. Fishermen believe that, even with the Stawell in attendance, ^the poaching rate will be at least four times as bad next year. — ^N.Z.C.N.A. Ne\ra Service.