Mr Shand Claims He Was Misreported

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30092, 28 March 1963, Page 16

Mr Shand Claims He Was Misreported

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, March 27. Allegations of misreporting of his speeches were made by the Minister of Labour (Mr Shand) tonight when he addressed the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce.

He said: "It is with some considerable trepidation these days that I stand to give a public address, especially on a technical subject when words taken out of their context can easily assume a sinister meaning, which is quite out of relationship with the sense in which they were spoken. "It is with even more trepidation that I pick up my morning paper on the following day. I have a lot of sympathy with newspaper reporters who are under the obligation of dissecting a few li-nes of news from what :">ay be a very dull address. But I sometimes wish that reporters would pause to consider carefully 'whether the words reported reflect accurately the sense the speaker was conveying. “Last month I had a more than usually unfortunate experience in the course of a political speech where I was pointing out that the objectives of the Government, of which I am a member, have been (1) the development of conditions which make for ordered economic growth. (2) the avoidance of Government action likely to cause violent economic fluctuation and (3) the exercise of such power and authority as the Government possesses to reduce the impact of fluctuations. such as overseas prices which are outside our control. "In 1961, in circumstances very similar to '-lose of 1958. we had not imposed violent, increased, tax burdens, but. indeed, had made some modest reduction We were not. in consequence, in a position to remit such taxes or part of them in 1963 “In other words our attitude would be guided by the good of the country, not by political expediency. "An interjectoc asked if that meant there would be no tax reductions this year, and I replied: 'There can be no substantial tax reductions this year.’ "One reporter—the first to be published—left out the word ‘substantial’ and changed ‘this year’ to 'several years' “The first report—the in-

accurate one—was news, but not the second, which repeated my words correctly. “Knowing how easily these mistakes can happen, one's first reaction is to forget about it. Unfortunately, unless they arc put right, these incidents are often seized upon and made the subject of fruitless Parliamentary controversy.” said Mr Shand. Mr Shand, who described himself as, “a cautious politician,” said he did not want to encourage fruitless debate in Parliament over incorrect press reports

"I would be quite hopeless as a reporter: I would be thinking my own thoughts and writing them down. "I write my own speeches out now,” he said. “Once it was considered bad form for politicians to write speeches out and read from them, because it meant they could hide behind a lectern and avoid the rotten eggs aid tomatoes.

“But when one becomes slightly important, one feela a great sense of responsibility.”