DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Press, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23080, 24 July 1940, Page 10

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

VOTES FOR TRAVELLING

EXPENSES

MR JULL’S CRITICISM

[From Our Parliamentary Reporter.!

WELI iINGTON, July 23. Votes totalling £48,650 ior travelling expenses lor officers of the Department of Agriculture were severely criticised by Mr A. E. Juil t Opposition, Waipawa) when the estimates of the department’s expenditure were under consideration in the House of Representatives to-day. This, he said, was enough for one trip round the world one day every week, and then leave a trip lor the Minister. “Here we are in war,” Mr Jull said, “and we have Ministers telling the people that they are doing everything possible to reduce unnecessary expenditure. Here we have £48,650 in one department for travelling expenses in the last year.” Making allowances for odds and ends and assuming that £32,000 of that sum was spent on petrol, Mr Jull said that was enough to do about 6,000,000 miles of travelling a year on 20 miles a gallon, after throwing about £16,000 or £IB,OOO in for odds and ends. Mr J. G. Barclay (Government, Marsden): Most of the departmental men travel in the train. Mr Jull: I have seen three of them in one town in three different cars in one day. They could not talk agriculture unless there was an aroma of petrol around. The Minister for Marine (the Hon. D. G. McMillan): Other people need the aroma of something else than petrol.

Mr Jull said he was not going to say anything about Ministers travelling in cars, because they looked so nice; but he did ask the Minister if it was not possible to reduce these travelling expenses. The departmental men were excellent men, and did their jobs well; but travelling 6,000.000 miles a year was a pretty costly thing. The Acting-Minister for Agriculture (the Hon. F. Langstone) said that the department embraced a number of divisions, which provided services involving a certain amount of travelling. There was apparently a demand for these services; but if there was any unreasonable or unnecessary travelling, it should be stopped. Economy should be exercised, along with efficiency. If £48.000 was worthily spent, and the people were getting the service, there was not much cause for complaint. Offhand, he could not say; but the mater would be looked into.

Speaking again kter’Mr Jull said he. took very strong exception to, the flippant way in which Mr Langstone treated his criticism. He considered it his duty to call attention to gross extravagance In travelling expenses in the department Mr W. J. Poison (Opposition, Stratford) said he had travelled with a number of officers of the Fields Division of the department in recent weeks, and he had a great deal of sympathy with them. The mileage allowance decreased as the distance increased, and the further they travelled the less they got. The Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. P. Fraser): Of course, you know there has |to be very strict supervision of the "unning of cars. Mr Poison: I know that.