Minister Looks At Industrial Growth

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29139, 26 February 1960, Page 14

Minister Looks At Industrial Growth

The Government wanted to see New Zealand’s manufacturing industry grow by its own efforts without dictation, but there were three requirements that heeded to be satisfied, said the Minister of Industries and Commerce (Mr Holloway) when he opened the New Zealand Industries Fair in Christchurch last evening. He listed the requirements as:— (1) Goods produced at a price acceptable to the consumer. (2) Goods of a quality in accordance with those that could be supplied competitively on a fair cost basis. (3) A supply sufficient to meet the demand of New Zealand consumers.

If those requirements were not met, then the Government would not hesitate to act, the Minister said. At present, everything was in favour of a development of manufacturing industry, he said, and as an analogy of the Government's interest he quoted the wheat production figures—66,ooo acres in wheat three years ago; an estimated 190,000 acres today. To get that increased production there had to be incentive, he said. The same policy of incentive was being carried out in relation to manufacturing industry. Some people saw incentive in terms of decreased taxation, he continued. But sometimes decreased taxation resulted in increased profits, which were not put to reserves for the industry, but distributed in the form of increased dividends. Imported Skills Mr Holloway examined a suggestion by Mr J. K. Dobson, president of the Canterbury Manufacturers’ Association, that the development of industry required a virile immigration policy. “Certainly, we need the introduction of skills we have not got in New Zealand,” the Minister said. “But in 10 or 15 years’ time the problem will be to find work for the young men and women offering, and not to find employees. “With the high standards this country has grown to expect, and rightly to expect, employment must pot only be for the sake of employing, but also to produce the goods we need to maintain our living standard for a greater population. Only one factor governs our standard of living, and that is the production of goods.” The Minister favoured as an immediate industrial development programme using the raw indigenous materials such as timber, woollen goods, and certain foodstuffs now processed overseas. Another problem involved the establishment of more basic industries, he said, and the Government was taking action to encourage some. He listed the aluminium and aluminium fabricating industries, the iron and steel industry, and the oil refinery as examples, and added the textile industry, both wool and cotton. “We must also concentrate on the ‘power’ industries, those depending on a great use of power, either as a raw material as a source of generation, and see if we cannot utilise to an even greater extent the great raw material supply we have available,” he continued. Heavy engineering, which had been described as the “pacemaker

for all industry,” must also be given attention. The Government, “using the taxpayers’ money,’’ had spent a vast sum on revolutionising the education system and providing every man and woman with unlimited opportunities for education, Mr Holloway continued. The opportunities and the money would be wasted if industry did not take advantage of the skills and knowledge available. Industry must provide jobs with incentive and excitement away from the boredom of automatic day-to-day operations. Rewards, Risks “If industry wants the rewards of private enterprise it must oe prepared to take the risks of private enterprise,” he continued. “We give no guarantee to any organisation that it is going to make a profit. But we can give them an assurance that there will be a market available if the people require the goods they are going to manufacture and if the goods are to be in sufficient supply and at a reasonable price.'* There was still room in New Zealand industry for increasing the morale of employees—“not by gimmicks to get workers from one factory to another and not merely by handouts,” the Minister said. The morale could be improved by providing employees with greater variety of works, using the technical skills taught in New Zealand schools and thereby increasing productive output. While New Zealand industries were still in the development stage, he did not think there could be any escape from some form of quantitative restriction where industry deserved protection, the Minister said.