Labour Party’s Export Policy Criticised

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32077, 27 August 1969, Page 6

Labour Party’s Export Policy Criticised

The Labour Party** policy 11 proposal that an import, export council be formed to aniit New Zealand’s export | drive overlooked the two I main problems facing exI porters today—the shortage I of skilled workers in this I j country and the inefficient I use of female workers be- ! ■ cause of restrictions which I ruled them out as shift ' workers, said Mr J. R. Madi dren, a member of the Trade Promotion Council and ehairman of the New Zealand Manufacturers Federation export committee, yesterday. Mr Maddren emphasised that any suggestion for the improvement of New Zealand's export marketing techniques should not be treated lightly. Any serious suggestion to lift export sales was worthy of further study and consideration. “But my initial reaction is 1 that this suggestion of an ! import-export council deals with only a part of the over- ' all problem and with the part of the problem least critical I at present” Mr Maddren said. “Several other organisai tions already exist for finding and exploring markets, sales (techniques and so on. Cer- : tainly dairy products in par- ! ticular are difficult to dispose :of at present, but by and large manufacturers and exporters of other products, be they raw materials or partlyprocessed agricultural products, are marketing them with success within the existing structure. MAIN PROBLEM

“The main problem is more one of supply than of demand and the main difficulty re-

igarding supply is the lack ol (workers to fill the vacancies I that are becoming more appar- | ent -in the ranks of industrial workers. “The only way in which we can maintain this dramatic rise in our export earnings is to grapple with this problem quickly and effectively. We need urgently more immigrants of the right type to fill these vacancies, and to work the plant and equipment we have already installed in our factories to the fullest capacity.” There was no question of increased capital cost or increased capital investment at industrial level to gain productivity from these immigrants, Mr Maddren said. “The money has already been spent; all we need is the work force to take full advantage of this capital expenditure. I believe that immigrants should be sought not only from the United Kingdom. where undoubtedly there is a substantial pool of labour, but also from other European countries with an advanced industrial structure. SECOND SHIFT “Second, we need revision of the labour legislation to allow female workers to take jobs at any time that is suitable to them with their family commitments, in other words, second shift and twilight shift work should be permitted. “On percentage, New Zealand has the least Involvement of female workers in the world. Surely here is an area from which labour can be drawn, provided the time of

work is geared to the requirements of the worker. It

is outdated to think that women should not be allowed to work these additional shifts if they are willing and free to do so. “Third, productivity must be raised to the maxiimim degree through staff training and through management planning. At all coats, we must remain competitive to hold and expand these overseas market* that forwardthinking exporters have created. “ALL TO GAIN” “New Zealand is at the cross-roads In the problem of expanding production to turn the current highly successful export drive into an absolute bonanza. We are all in this together; we all stand to gain. “Too much stress on one section of exporting can confuse the over-all picture resulting in our losing sight of the critical problems that are arising in other areas,” Mr Maddren said.