N.Z. POLICY ON INDUSTRY

Press, Volume XCII, Issue 27751, 31 August 1955, Page 3

N.Z. POLICY ON INDUSTRY

Explanation Sought By Manufacturers COMMENT ON SPEECH t BY MINISTER 1 1 “What is the Government’s policy { towards industry?” asked Mr J. S. f McAlpine, president of the New Zea- f land Manufacturers’ Federation in a c statement today. “In his address to the Auckland : Manufacturers’ Association last night, 5 the Minister of Industries and Commerce (Mr D. J. Eyre) added further confusion to the minds of manufac- j turers when he said that manufac- < turers may find they can no longer J finance extensions and that he was a ’ narty to measures which were restraining secondary industry,” said Mr McAlpine. “On the other hand Mr ( Eyre said that the Government looked to the manufacturing industries to take 100.000 of the estimated increase of 350.000 in the labour force in the next 20 years—in other words to increase the number employed in industry by more than 50 per cent, of the present figure. ' “Surely the Government cannot have ! it both ways,” Mr McAlpine said. “If industry is to provide the jobs, it must have the expanded factories, the necessary finance, and above all, the confidence and the sense of security required to embark on sound development. It is this lack of blueorint for development that is troubling industry. “Contraction or expansion—which does the Government seek?” he asked. Manufacturers would like to know. The federation hopes that the Minister will provide the answers to some of these questions when he speaks at the opening of its annual conference in Wellington next month.” Mr McAlpine said that while the Government was proceeding to lift im- ( port controls, it was allowing industry 1 to be frustrated by the retention of i internal controls such as building conItrols. price control and capital issues control. This lack of consistency was extremely disturbing to manufacturers. he said. 1