Equal pay bill under study

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32975, 22 July 1972, Page 16

Equal pay bill under study

(N.Z. Press Association) . WELLINGTON, July 21.1 The recommendations of the Royal Commission on Equal Payj would be put into effect in a way that New Zealand would be able to bear, said the Minister of Labour (Mr Thomson) this evening.

He was speaking during al panel discussion at the! National Party conference in which delegates asked questions of the Cabinet. Mr P. Baruch (Petone) i said the suggested date for the introduction of equal pay i was the day after the j stabilisation regulations were lifted, and asked what assurance the Government had I that the Federation of Labour would not begin a new round of wage negotiations to main- < tain margins. Mr Thomson said the Gov-j emment had no assurance from the F.O.L. on the ques-i

ition. The bill was under careful study, as a report from a Royal Commission and obviously the Government would give effect to i the Royal Commission’s recommendations in a way New Zealand could bear. The Prime Minister (Mr j Marshall) said it could not be assumed that the proposals would be introduced abruptly. WOOL CORPORATION Mr R. W. White (Gisborne) asked for full consideration [of opposing views on the establishment of a woolmarketing corporation. The Minister of Agriculture (Mr Carter) said the question was whether wool producers would gain from the deal. Mr Carter said that the democratically-elected representatives of the wool producers had asked for the bill. This was agreed to by the Government, with some changes. The bill was before a Parliamentary Select Committee, and it was up to those who opposed it to show where it was wrong. The committee was hearing

evidence, and would, if necessary, make changes. In answer to a question on computers, the chairman of the Cabinet Committee on the State Services (Mr Thomson) said that no unauthorised individual would have direct access to information stored in Government computer banks. But if anyone had reason to be disturbed by information he thought had been recorded, he could make representations and this would be checked. The Government was being most careful about the security of electronic dataprocessing information, said M.- Thomson. Mr Marshall said that computers were far more secure than the present system of information stored in files.

HELP FOR POLYNESIANS The Minister of Maori and Island Affairs (Mr MacIntyre) said he hoped that legislation would be introduced establishing a Polynesian education foundation. The Government had offered $50,000, and the Polynesian community was raising a similar amount.

On the recognition of China, the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Sir Keith Holyoake) reiterated the Government’s “two-China” policy. However, neither Taiwan nor China would accept that the other had the right to be recognised, he added. “We would be very happy to recognise China, but not at Taiwan’s expense,” Sir Keith Holyoake said. The same attitude was held by all other countries around the Pacific basin, except North Korea and North Vietnam. POLICE POWERS Asked about legislation and problems which might hamper the police, particularly in dealing with vandalism or demonstrations, the Minister of Police (Mr Allen) said the police were satisfied there was enough legislation to deal with these problems. They had no problems of equipment, and were the best equipped in the world. However, they did need more men, and the Government was providing for more police.