SUCCESS CLAIMED

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 304, 23 December 1943, Page 6

SUCCESS CLAIMED

STABILISATION PLAN STATEMENT BY MR. SULLIVAN (P.A.) WELLINGTON, this day. "Twelve months ago, on December 15, the Government announced its full stabilisation programme. At the 1940 conference all sections of the community—workers, employers, farmers, manufacturers anl traders had joined in framing that policy," said the Minister in Charge of Stabilisation, Mr. Sullivan. "The stabilisation programme involved holding down the prices of a wide range of the essentials of living, stabilising farm prices and costs, stabilising individual rates of pay and other remuneration, and stabilising rents and transport charges. Looking back on the past twelve months, one can confidently say stabilisation had been really a substantial success. It should be unnecessary at this time to reiterate the need for stabilisation, which is vital in preserving a sound, secure economic structure, without which the capacity of the country for production would be placed in jeopardy. Importance of Production "The importance of production cannot be over-emphasised." added the Minister. "By every means in our power we must seek to increase production, so that New Zealand may make its fullest contribution in aid of Britain and in the Allied cause. Stabilisation is vital to production, for by preventing inflation in spite of the inevitable shocks of war it protects all forms of industry —farming and -manufacturing—from general dislocation and the economic chaos that would hinder all production. By putting the brake on the abnormal conditions brought about by the war it checks distortion of the economic structure, and keeps production directed into the channels that are most necessary. We must so plan that our needs, and those of our Allies, are met to the limit of our ability, and that all concerned in this joint effort—and that means all New Zealanders—receive fair and equitable treatment so far as that is practicable in -wartime. Stabilisation is essential to this end, and in this respect it has a further important result in preventing groups of individuals from reaping special and unwarranted benefits from wartime conditions. Certain very definite things have been achieved under stabilisation during the Fast twelve months. During this 3 r ear, the fourth of the war, the prices of essentials have been held. Prices of Essentials Kept Down "That is a fact which cannot be gainsaid. Prices of the eight main everyday foodstuffs—bread, flour, butter, cheese, milk, sugar, oatmeal and meat —are still the same as they were when the war began. Effective control over prices has been extended, a notable example being the operation of price orders covering a wide range of main vegetables. People have only to recall the high prices of vegetables in the earlier years of the war to appreciate the more reasonable and stable prices which ruled this year. Full attention has been given to ensuring an adequate supply of vegetables, and contracts for growing these vegetables have been taken up by large numbers of growers in the main producing areas.