Not to be outdone the Federal Parliament has introduced a Parliamentary Salaries Adjustment Bill mainly affecting the remuneration of Ministers, and now members in all the other States are wondering just how far they might safely go in the same direction without crousing the righteous anger of the taxpayer.
The matter is complicated by the fact that the general level of taxation is high, and that emergency taxes imposed for unemployment relief and other purposes during he depression are still enforced. Taxpayers insist that such taxes should be removed before any increase in the payment of members would be justified.
There is also a feeling among the vast army of basic wage earners, receiving about £4 a week, that, for the amount of work that private members actually do they are already being vaid rather more than they deserve. Strong opposition may consequently be expected to any increase in the salaries of private members, though additional payment of Ministers will probably be approved.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.