OVERHAUL ADVOCATED.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 227, 25 September 1930, Page 11

OVERHAUL ADVOCATED.

DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR.

COMPLAINTS Or DELAY.

AUCKLAND OFFICE MENTIONED.

(By Telegraph.—Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, Wednesday.

The suggestion that the administration of the Labour Department ehould be subjected to an overhaul by a local Commission or a Parliamentary committee was made by Mr. M. J. Savage (Auckland West) in the House to-night. Mr. Savage said that for a considerable time there had been dissatisfaction with the administration of the Auckland office of the Labour Department. He felt that the individuals concerned with the administration of the Department were not to blame. They were doing the best they could with little encouragement. It was absurd, eay, that the officer in charge of the Dunedin office had to consult the head office before taking action on any matter. It was juet as farcical as expecting the Police Department at Dunedin to consult the Commissioner of Police before ordering a prosecution. Case of Auckland Bricklayers. Concerning the Auckland office, Mr. Savage eaid there was much dissatisfaction at the present time. Complaints had been made that in eome cases no ; action had been taken regarding breaches of awards, and, in others that there had been delays in ordering prosecutions. He recalled the case of Auckland bricklayers, who, through the expiry of the period in which civil proceedings could be taken, were unable to recover back pay to which the magistrate had decided they were entitled. He was sure that if the'administration were inquired into by a Commission the officers themselves would willingly supply the fullest information. In reply, the' Minister of Labour, the Hon. S. G. Smith, said he was sorry to hear there were complaints. Immediately he had assumed the portfolio of Labour he had had the head of the Department visit Auckland, and he was under tJie impression that matters had been adjusted. If in the course of his inquiries he found that the position of the administration generally was such as to necessitate a thorough investigation he would not hesitate to recommend Cabinet to do something in that direction. _ Inspectors Free' to Act. Concerning the complaint that delays had occurred in the ordering of prosecutions, the Minister said he did not want delays, nor did he want inspectors to take up trivial or pin-pricking cases. He hoped to institute some system whereby decisions, one way or the other, would be expedited. It was incorrect to say that inspectors had to consult the head office regarding taking proceedings for award breaches. Mr. Savage: That is a new policy then. Mr. Smith: I don't know whether it is or is not, but I can say that the inspectors have freedom to act.