P.M. Working Too Hard—Mr Shand

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30451, 27 May 1964, Page 1

P.M. Working Too Hard—Mr Shand

Fear that the Prime Minister (Mr Holyoake) would kill himself if he did not “slacken off a bit” was expressed by the Minister of Labour (Mr Shand) at the annual meeting of the Canterbury-Westland division of the National Party in Christchurch last evening.

“The Prime Minister in doing his job is setting a tremendous pace.” Mr Shand said.

Mr Shand told a reporter after the meeting that other Cabinet Ministers had expressed concern about the long hours Mr Holyoake worked. He estimated that the Prime Minister spent at least 15 hours a day, seven days a week, on Government business. “He will kill himself if he carries on at that rate,” Mr Shand said. Ministers’ Health It had come as a great shock, Mr Shand told delegates, that three Cabinet Ministers had suffered heart attacks within recent months. “Some of us decided to sit back and do a little thinking, and considered we should have one day off each week with exercise, come hell or high water,” he said. “Why is it that our Ministers today are finding it so difficult to cope with their work?” he asked.

Thirty years or more ago, Mr Shand said, a Minister would need to visit Wellington only several times a month. “Today, we have to. trade alone,” he said.

“And whereas a few years ago only two or three mes-

sages were exchanged with overseas posts each week, we now exchange more than 100 a day. “We might receive 20 foolscap pages dealing with trade alone.” he said. “The responsibilities of government have' grown and will continue to grow in the years to come. Although Ministers do not accept as many social functions as our predecessors, we are facing an increasing burden of portfolio work in Wellington. “And this, believe me, is far more wearying than all the social functions,” said Mr Shand. Public Service One way of easing the load on Ministers would be to increase the force of topquality public servants, he said.

“I feel this problem has been caused by the incapability of the Public Service to grow in relation to need,”' he said. The Public Service as it was today was not at all inefficient, Mr Shand said, but was not big enough to cope with the increased burden of work. “There is no limit to the challenge of ‘the job’ of government but it is fast becoming a problem to do this job as efficiently as possible,” said Sir Shand.