DUTCH FARMERS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 69, Issue 75, 8 January 1949, Page 3

DUTCH FARMERS

Migrants to New Zealand

EIGHTY-NINE DUE THIS MONTH (P.A.) AUCKLAND, Jan. 7. Eighty-nine Dutch immigrants are expected at Auckland by chartered aircraft from Sydney toward the end of the month, according to the charterers, Tasman Empire Airways, Ltd. The first group of 40 will arrive in a transAustralian Airlines Skymaster on January 24 and another group on January 20.

The immigrants will be met at Auckland by the Netherlands Minister (Mr J. P>. D. Pennink) and the agricultural attache (Mr 11. de Bruin). The first large group of Dutch immigrants to settle in New Zealand, the party includes 2-3 farmhands aged between 21 and 30. They are the first of 100 farmhands Selected in Holland by an immigration officer on the staff of the High Commissioner In London. They have been .placed on' farms throughout the Dominion by the Department of Labour and Employment and Federated Farmers. The Dutch farmhands are all trained men with experience on mixed dairying and arable farms. In company with about, 1600 assisted Dutch settlers" for Australia, the immigrants to New Zealand are travelling in the liner Volendam, which is due at Svdney from Amsterdam on January 21.

In a telephone interview Mr de Bruin, speaking from the Netherlands Legation in Wellington, said it had been originally intended that ICO farmhands would leave Amsterdam in the Volendam. The time was too short, however, for all to complete arrangements, and it was expected that the remaining 75 selected farmhands would arrive in May, possibly in the next voyage of the Jugoslav ship Partizanka. All immigrants 4o New Zealand were paying their own fares, which amounted to about £l5B each, added Mr de Bruin. Various trades were represented among 64 persons who were not coming as farmhands. These people had been sponsored by friends and relatives in the Dominion.

The Customs Department had granted entry permits after being given proof that satisfactory arrangements had been made for accommodation. Twenty children are included in the party. The oldest of the new settlers is 47. One young carpenter and a farmhand visited New Zealand while serving during the war and have been sponsored by friends they made during their visit. Another man was one of the -Netherlands East Indies evacuees who came to Auckland. His wife and family are still in Wellington. All members of one grown-up family will work in a Rotorua hotel. Mr de Bruin said that all immigrants would leave for their new jobs almost immediately after they arrived at Auckland. Because of Dutch currency difficulties, the most money they would have after their journey would be about £lO to £l2 each, and they would have to^.start earning as soon as possible. Attempts had been made to start a larger scheme for the immigration of farmhands to New Zealand, but the lack of transport had proved a problem, he said. It was possible that next year the Netherlands Government might assist immigrants by paying part of their fare. The Australian Government was paying up to 40 per cent, of the fares of Dutch people settling in the Commonwealth.