“Building Credit To Industry”

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31144, 22 August 1966, Page 12

“Building Credit To Industry”

That a representative of the building industry in Christchurch had undertaken a major project such as the construction of Demeter House with such credit to the industry and the men who worked in it in Christchurch was very pleasing, said the Minister of Finance (Mr Lake) when he opened the new building on Saturday.

Demeter House will be the new Christchurch home for the Department of Agriculture.

terbury and North Otago, tn the 10 years from 1962 till 1972, he said. If the targets were achieved the number of North Canterbury beef cattle should rise by more than 22 per cent and in South Canterbury and North Otago by more than 36 per cent. “The Department of Agriculture will play an important part In the encouragement of this expansion,” he said.

The builders of Demeter House and the men who had worked on the job were to be congratulated for finishing the job four months and three weeks ahead of schedule, he said. “Sometimes one hears illinformed criticism about workers in New Zealand but given proper organisation of the job and appropriate encouragement, the workers in the New Zealand labour force are at least as good as, and probably better in my opinion, than those in any other country,” he said. Canterbury today made a particularly valuable agricultural contribution to the New Zealand economy. With the development of the rest of New Zealand, its proportionate contribution to total agricultural production had tended to decline but in absolute terms it was still a most important area. Growth in the area would be considerable if the targets of the Agricultural Development Conference were achieved. Total sheep numbers would rise by 19 per cent in North Canterbury and 23 per cent in South Can-