The Press THURSDAY. JUNE 7, 1956 Half-hearted Invitation To Coventry Men

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27988, 7 June 1956, Page 12

The Press THURSDAY. JUNE 7, 1956 Half-hearted Invitation To Coventry Men

New Zealand has lost a splendid opportunity through the half-heart-edness of the Minister of Railways (Mr in inviting Coventry men displaced by automation to come to New Zealand. Mr McAlpine should have offered these workers a warm welcome. Instead, he hedged his invitation round with qualifications of the skills the Government desired. Worse, he them it was no use their coming unless they could pay their own fares and provide their own houses 'when they got here. No-one should be surprised if so. cool an offer meets with an equally cool reception. The opportunity lost by Mr McAlpine [was not so much in getting the ' skilled workers many New Zealand iorganisations (as well as the Railways Department) need, but in : improving New Zealand’s reputation jas a country seeking migrants. As I the “ Daily -Telegraph ” commented i recently, “New- Zealand appears (“surprisingly lukewarm” about building up its. population through Commonwealth migration. Mr McAlpine on this occasion could have been a good deal warmer in ’his

invitation without placing too much strain on New Zealand's resources, because it would be surprising if many of the Coventry men would have accepted in any case. Experi- , ence in the United States, where automation is much further advanced than in the United Kingdom, shows that automation tends to create new opportunities for skilled workers. The United States now has a desperate need of men who can make the new machines, operate them, and service them. The automation industries are attracting from other occupations ’men and women who can acquire the necessary skills. The only field in which , serious unemployment has been created is on the lowest level of 1 skill. If this is also the experience i in Britain, the displaced Standard workers will soon have better opportunities at home than in migrating to New Zealand. The present Government in New j Zealand has shown a much better e appreciation than its predecessor of - the need for a greater working

population and of the need to encourage immigration. It has not 1 been so obsessed by the fear that immigrants may deprive earlier arrivals of houses, or reduce the over-full level of employment. But it has certainly been cautious. As Mr McAlpine’s statement shows, ’it ! still instinctively thinks about housing, as if this were the only, and the most important, shortage rr

New Zealand. In fact, almost every ‘ industry in New’ Zealand is handicapped by the lack of labour. The Government gives the impression ( that, although quite aware of the i national interest, it is deterred from showing too much enthusiasm by

the fear that perhaps the Labour Party has convinced New Zealanders generally that new arrivals will kywer the standard of living. The way to overcome this fear is by a bolder approach. New Zealand will have enough difficulty in getting reasonably suitable immigrants without making difficulties for itself. The Government cannot afford to w’aste any chance of showing that it w’ill welcome new settlers, or any chance of getting a few unexpected recruits during the change-over to automation in Britain.