Markets In The East

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30289, 15 November 1963, Page 24

Markets In The East

—J. G. Locke, (Communist) New Zealand’s market problem is our number one problem today. We have had a short respite because Britain has not entered the E.E.C. yet; but whether she goes in or not. our traditional marketing area is getting narrower and narrower and more and more difficult to satisfy. The obvious solution is to seek new areas for the sale of our export produce, dairy, meat and wool. The countries of Socialiam, the countries of the East and South-east Asia, and the newly emerging States in Africa are developing their living standards rapidly. They need our produce and there are 1000 million people in the Socialist lands alone. In China in 1961, I was told that they would be prepared to buy all our meat, wool and dairy products and wood pulp if we would buy the equivalent goods from them in return. They had machinery, textiles, materials of many kinds that we do not produce in New Zealand and all were on show at the Export Fair. No New. Zealanders If we do not trade there, they will build up their own internal supplies of dairy products and so on, and also other countries will capture their trade. When I was there. I saw many businessmen from Australia. England and elsewhere at the trade fairs, but unfortunately no New Zealand ones. Communist members of Parliament would fight for a policy of peaceful trading relations with these countries, to get us out of the arms race and into the trade race.

Our country is young, with a tremendous potential, and our youth deserve and should have the highest training and facilities. Our policy for education includes greatly increased all round salaries for teachers, with a larger country service allowance and special allowances for degrees and other qualifications; more and larger bursaries for students at universities who intend to become teachers, and an increase in spending on school building programmes to ensure adequate space for smaller classes.

Only in this way can we obtain the best from our education system and the best relationships between pupils, teachers and parents. We are not in favour of State aid to private schools, and believe that education should be completely free, secular and compulsory. Finance for increased expenditure on education, health and housing must come from decreased spending on military budgets and from a taxation system that raises the amounts taken from monopoly interests in this country.