NEW ZEALAND HAPPY

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXV, Issue 12304, 19 April 1937, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND HAPPY

LABOUR MINISTER IN AUSTRALIA Sydney, April 9. New Zealand is now held to be one of the most industrially contented countries in the world. That, said the Dominion’s Minister for Labour, Mr H. T. Armstrong, to-day, in an interview with the Sydney Sun, is due to sweeping changes made by the Savage Government. "We went into Parliament pledged to restore wages to their former levels. We have not only done this, but reduced working hours and increased pensions,” said Mr Armstrong. With his wife, he is on his way to London to represent New Zealand at the Coronation, and an International Labour Conference at Geneva. Superannuation. Plan Mr Armstrong said the old age pension had been increased from 17s bd to £ 1 2s 6d, and that about 20,000 people now received pensions who did not get them before. Legislation would be Introduced next session, he thought, for universal superannuation, providing against sickness, old age, and unemployment. Mr Armstrong said that other legislative changes under consideration included a revision of the Shops and Offices Act, including the questions of providing a universal closing day and uniform opening, and - closing times for all shops. In the Savage Government are five Australian Ministers, said Mr Armstrong. These were the Prime Minister (Mr Savage), the Minister for Mines (Mr P. C. Webb), the Minister for Works (Mr R. Semple), the Minister for Internal Affairs (Mr W. E. Parry), and the Minister for Customs (Mr M. Fagan).