N.013
Sixty-Eight per cent of Sydney's population think that the new South Wales Upper House should be abolished.
This was revealed in a survey conducted in the metropolitan area this week by the Daily Telegraph Research Bureau.
We asked:
Do you think the Upper House of the New South Wales Government should be retained or abolished?
This was the result:
[DIAGRAM]
Retain the Upper House 30.5%
Abolish the Upper House 68%
Undecided 1.5%
Sixty-eight per cent of those questioned favored [sic] the abolition of the Upper House.
A fraction over 30 per cent wanted the Upper House retained. The rest were undecided.
Men and women were questioned. Those in favor of abolition were quite definite in their opinion, and frequently amplified their answers by giving reasons.
Many women were hazy about Upper and Lower Houses.
About 24 per cent of those interviewed said they left all such matters to their husbands.
These women were excluded from the survey assessment for that reason.
Many who opposed an Upper House said it was influenced by too much "money interest."
One man insisted it was no use having a Labor Government unless the Upper House were Labor, too.
Among wealthy people questioned, 75 per cent favored the retention of the Upper House.
Fifty-six per cent of the middle income group were also in favor of an Upper House.
These said the Upper House was a necessary brake on the Lower House, and prevented it having absolute power and passing extreme measures without attracting public notice.
One in five of those who approved of the Upper House added: "Retain the Upper House while we have a Lower House, but it would be better to have only the Federal Parliament."
Many said the State Parliament was a luxury we couldn't afford in wartime.
The fact that the New South Wales Upper House is elected by Parliament, and not by the people, was criticised by a large percentage of those questioned.
To test this feeling we asked this question:
Do you think that all members of Parliament should be elected by the people?
This was the result:
[DIAGRAM]
Yes 95.5%
No 4.5%
Ninety-five and a half per cent said "Yes" to this question.
All those interviewed answered the question, and there was no hesitation.
Those who opposed election by the people considered that a more careful selection of members is necessary to obtain the best type.