PROVIDING JOBS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 236, 5 October 1945, Page 7

PROVIDING JOBS

PRIVATE EMPLOYERS

ENCOURAGEMENT NECESSARY

Parliamentary Reporter

WELLINGTON, this day. The problem of finding employment was of much greater moment thaij providing for the unemployment of the people, and if the Government would only change ife attitude and the tactics towards those who provided employment—privateenterprise—industry in New Zealand would expand almost beyond belief, said the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Holland, continuing his speech in the second reading debate on the Employment Bill, which wak resumed in the House of Representatives last evening.

The Government, he claimed, had shown itself to be bankrupt of ideas in tackling one of the major postwar problems.

Every democratically governed country was committed to a policy of full employment regardless of the politics of the Government, said Mr. Holland. The Employment Bill consisted of nine clauses, seven of which were machinery. Only two. clauses gave any indication of the intention of the Government. The Opposition would move an amendment later to provide that the member of the Executive Council named by the Governor-General as Minister of Employment should be a member of the House of Representatives, because if the Minister of Employment were to undertake: that great responsibility it seemed right and proper that he should report to the House personally, not through the agency of someone who acted on his behalf.

New Department Set Up Employment work should be a division of the Labour Department, and there was no need to set up another great State department. Generally speaking, he thought the people would object to the establishment of more departments, because thpre seemed to be enough already. The unemployment problem was being attacked from the unemployment angle, instead of from the employment angle, and the proposed department was virtually a gigantic State registry office, which would call for huge staffs. The bill was a drab, unimaginative document, continued Mr. Holland, and the Government, in its expressed views, had shown that it did not have two ideas to rub together regarding employment. New Zealand's economy was divided into two parts—that which was produced inside the country and ihat which came from overseas. Overseas trade was vital for raw materials, and if the overseas income did fall, a programme should be ready to expand income within the Dominion. There were many opportunities inside the country for expansion, and there should be no unemployment or lack of opportunity. State Employees The employment problem in the near future meant absorbing about 100,000 Service personnel and about 20,000 who had been manpowered into special employment for war purposes. Worker's fell into two categories—State employees and private employees—but what were the prospects of the State employing more and more skilled workers? In 1935, excluding teachers, post and telegraph and railways employees, there were 9766 State employees. In 1939 that had grown to 17,243, and in 1943 to 28,779, It would not appear, therefore, that there was much scope for absorbing many thousands of people into the ordinary Public Service. The number of employees in the Railway Department in 1935 was 16,189 and 10 years later it was 23,076. If that were the position, the logical alternative was private employment, which had a proud wartime record. He believed that in peace, just as in war, private employers would rise to every need of the community and provide worthwhile creative employment.

Before that happy situation cou d be reached, the Government would have to change its attitude completely towards those who - gave employment, and it must give up its practice of making constant attacks on employers and of condemning enterprise with every breath. Every man who did anything to discourage employment was an enemy of the State, and everyone who could provide jobs must be regarded as a national asset by the Government, not as a public enemy.

No Immigration Plan

Mr Holland said that thousands of voung people in Britain were looking for a new place to live, but while Australia had a plan to bring in those immigrants, the New Zealand Government had none. Mr. Thorn (Govt., Thames) suggested that the Opposition, which supported conscription for militaiy service, could not object to the efficient organisation to be set v.p to deal with unemployment, though they might call it regimentation. Ihe bill would offset the inevitable tendency of the capitalistic system to breed unemployment, except during wartime, the only period when full employment was provided.