PAY FOR M.P.'s.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 September 1920, Page 5

PAY FOR M.P.'s.

INCREASE TO £SOO PROPOSED. DEBATE THIS WEEK. (By Wire.—Parliamentary Reporter.) Wellington, Last Night. When the committee stage of the Civil List Bill is reached, probably this week, members will seek to have the proposed honorarium increased from £450 to £SOO. Tl;e present payment to members of the House is £3OO a year, and there appears to be a" general feeling that the honorarium of £450 proposed by the Government ia not adequate, especially if some deduction is to be made for superannuation. The Prime Minister .has indicated that he i» willing to take the opinion of the House on the subject, but no private member can move an amendment involving the increase of public expenditure, and if an increase to £SOO is to be made the motion will have to come from the Government. The House can find means of indicating its desire. The Bill, as introduced by Mr. Massey, does not propose any increase in the salaries of Ministers, and the opinion of the House seems to be strongly in favor of an increase. New Zealand's Ministers are poorly paid in comparison with public men holding similar positions in other parts of the world. The Prime Minister stated, when he was moving the second reading of tKe Bill, that Cabinet, had decided to leave this question to the House, where here again the actual motion must come from the Government.