N.Z. REPORT ON DELINQUENCY

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27472, 5 October 1954, Page 10

N.Z. REPORT ON DELINQUENCY

GOVERNMENT ACTION EXPLAINED INTERVIEW WITH PRIME MINISTER (Special Correspondent N.Z.P.A.) LONDON, October 3. “The heart of our people is all right —their character is of proven, integrity, and there is nothing sordid in their make-up,” the Prime Minister of New Zealand (Mr Holland) told the representative of the “Daily Mail” in Wellington in an interview following publication of the report on juvenile delinquency in the Dominion. Discussing the New Zealand Government’s plans. Mr Holland said: “New Zealand is a lovely country, British to the core and very proud of it. Our people are honest, hard working, and industrious. Our standard of commercial and personal morality is high. “What is behind the legislation dealing with juvenile delinquency is just this. Recent Court 'proceedings brought to the surface certain trends in moral conduct among a comparatively small section of our young people of a nature that is common in other countries as well as New Zealand. \ “We are not burying our heads in the sand and pretending that what has happened does not exist. We are tackling the problem realistically and in a practical way, and I am confident an improvement will be the result. “It is generally agreed in New Zealand that the problem must be dealt with in the homes and the home life of the people. “The recent Court cases have admittedly given many people a severe shocte. That in itself is a good thing; and I am sure parents have been brought to realise that the responsibility is theirs, and that they are determined to mend matters.

“Do not rup away with the idea that the recent disclosures are typical of New Zealand life, and of its young people, for nothing could be farther from the truth.

“As in so many other things in life there comes a wave of this type of thing. Faced with juvenile delinquency in New Zealand we had the option of shutting our eyes and doing nothing, or boldly gripping the problem and doing everything possible to bring about an improvement. “That is what we are doing. Wc have a serious problem, just as other countries have, and we are trying to deal with it.”