Would Pay Proposals

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30284, 9 November 1963, Page 13

Would Pay Proposals

Labour government led the country. In fact, l>t was more difficult for anyone to start in business today, Mr Mathison said. National had abolished the "R” import licences, so thait no-one without an importing history could get a licence to import. Mr Mathison said that business in New Zealand had to expand to cater for the 50,000 new wankers arriving every year. There was nothing to stop unemployed Australians coming to New Zealand; the only ones whose numbers could be controlled were the assisted immigrants and Asiatics who had to get a permit.

Immigration A Labour government would control the flow of assisted immigrants, having regard to the number of jobs available and to the accommodation available. At present there were people living in New Zealand who had been persuaded to come here and been helped to come here, who were living in disgraceful accommodation. Mr Mathison said nothing was further from the truth than the allegations that Labour sought to impose price controls. Price controls had been imposed in the past only because consumers were being exploited. Those who opposed price control did not hesitate to operate it in their own businesses. Mr Mathison said that the moment the little shopkeepers were eliminated by “large octopus firms,” the big firms had the consumers at their mercy. They could dictate both prices and quality. “We are more for private enterprise in that respect than the Government, which has done nothing to stop that sort of thing.” Mr Mathison said that a Labour government would investigate hire - purchase firms’ interest rates without hesitation. If the firms concerned were not charging exorbitant rates of interest, then they could have no objection to an investigation of the question. “I guarantee,” said Mr Mathison, “that the moment we become the Government the rate of hire-purchase interest will drop very suddenly indeed.”