Sir Leslie Munro Home

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30106, 15 April 1963, Page 8

Sir Leslie Munro Home

(N L Press Association) AUCKLAND April 14. After 12 years’ service abroad in diplomatic and international appointnients. Sir Leslie Munro returned to New Zealand today. With I .adv Munro, he intends to live here permanently.

Sir Leslie Munro, who is a candidate for the National Party selection for the Waipa constituency said he had been happy to accept the invitation to submit his name to the party selection committee “I have complete allegiance to the National Party.” he said “1 will be honoured if I receive the nomination as official candidate. I will accept the judgment of the selection comtn ’’ee." He had followed the economic situation in New Zealand "loaely while he was Secretary-General of the International Commission of Jurists in Geneva, and had been particularly pleased to see how exports to the United States had developed in 1962 tn the vear. exports of meat and meat products had reached 72 4 million dol-ls-s

It was possible that this figure could not be sustained But with constant attention to the market and given the p-e-ent tendency towards liberalisation of trade by the American Administration, it might be po.rible even to increase the figure Str Leslie Munro said thai the trade in lamb deserved particular attention. Americans did not have an instinctive liking for lamb and therefore their taste needed to be carefully studied. They /

liked lambs which were small and without fat. From observations he had made in California and Hawaii, he was satisfied that there was room tor further development of the trade there. General de Gaulle's veto of the British application for entry into the Common Market had fgitunately given New Zealand a respite. How long this respite would last no-one could tell; but it was up to the country to 'make the best of this breathing space.

“1 believe that sooner or later. Britain will reach an accommodation with the Common Market,” he said ‘We will always have a substantial trade with Britain, but increasingly we wiH have to look to other markets ”

Sir Leslie Munro said the oermanent trade commission in Japan should comprise sufficient members who spoke Japanese He was aware of the efforts made by Mr J S Scott, trade commissioner in Japan, and admired his in-

dustry But he considered there should be a constant, concentrated effort with adequate linguists. “It would be wise for our country to introduce here a crash programme in the teaching of Japanese,” he said “In the future Japanese will be much more important for us than the study of French. Very few New Zealanders at present can -peak Japanese." A greater effort should be made toward building modern tourist hotels which had expanded and elastic meal hours, said Sir Leslie Munro Promotion of the touriet trade between the United States and New Zeeland should be accelerated; The Minister of Tourist and Health Resorts (Mr Eyre* deserved all the encouragement he could get in his camoaign. Government financing of the plan was a sound move in the right direction.