Labour Candidate Slates Govt. “Procrastination”

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31211, 8 November 1966, Page 10

Labour Candidate Slates Govt. “Procrastination”

The National Party candidate for the Ashburton electorate (Mr R. L. G. Talbot), was taken to task by the Labour candidate, Mr A. J. Srhoy, in an address at Albury on several aspects of what he termed “Government procrastination.” Mr Srhoy invited Mr Talbot to defend his party’s record in the Ashburton electorate.

Mr Srhoy said Mr Talbot had condemned his party’s past policy in the electorate by his recent statement in an election speech that the electorate had not received its fair share of the capital investment in education. “Has he just realised this?” Mr Srhoy asked. “We want to know why we have not been getting a fair share.” “Mr Talbot says the Temuka High School building dispute was ‘unfortunate.’ He has copied my stand on the Ashburton College issue and has tried to suggest.that the whole thing is the Education Department’s fault. He has copied by earlier statements about irrigation costs. He probably even agrees with me that Ashburton has been a ‘safe National Party seat’ for too long,” said Mr Srhoy. He asked Mr Talbot to say something original, and to defend the Government’s record in the electorate.

Earlier in his campaign Mr Srhoy termed as “nonsense” Mr Talbot’s claim that under National there had been “great strides in the development of the electorate.” “The evidence is that the electorate has been neglected. It is almost a perfect case of a safe electorate being forgotten. Try to convince Temuka and Ashburton people that great strides have been made in the educational field.

Try to convince farmers who contributed to the South Island Co-operative Fertiliser Company that the present Government has the interests of this electorate at heart. The National Government will never have the interest of the electorate at heart until it thinks it may lose it.” Mr Srhoy said that more tax was collected a man in the Ashburton electorate than in most other electorates throughout New Zealand. It had seen “precious little” for this money, however, apart from a fine high school at Geraldine planned by a Labour Government.

“Our tax is being used to subsidise other, marginal electorates such as Hobson. In this electorate we have met with Government obstruction and procrastination at every turn,” said Mr Srhoy. He agreed with Mr Talbot that there was still an amazing potential for development in the electorate. This was all too obvious, he said. Ashburton borough had one of the lowest rates of growth in New Zealand. Ashburton’s flour mill was working below capacity, with both production and profit down during the last financial year, yet wheat from the district was being sent to Auckland, using South Island power. “Judging by its policy on Ashburton College the Government has no faith in the future of Ashburton. We see a school, potentially one of the finest in New Zealand, being offered a site that is inadequate now. What will it be like in 10 years’ time? This is typical of the treatment the Ashburton electorate has suffered,” said Mr Srhoy.