National Party’s election policy announced

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33061, 31 October 1972, Page 19

National Party’s election policy announced

Continuation of present policies and expansion of present programmes figure large in the National Party’s policy for the General Election, which was announced last evening by the Prime Minister (Mr Marshall).

In its manifesto, the party promises to continue to aim for National Development Conference targets of increasing the gross national product by 27.5 per cent a head in 10 years, and to consider fully environmental aspects when examining proposals.

It promises greater use of economic forecasting, to provide as much scope for individual initiative as possible, to encourage exports, to meet electricity needs, devote increasing resources to education, encourage the arts, foster regional development, reduce taxes and to tax spending rather than 1 earning, check Government spending, and to improve health, social, and welfare services. The party also promises houses in sufficient numbers and at reasonable prices, incentives for efficient fanning, an imaginative fisheries , policy, protection of local industry, and to combat crime and violence. Other points from the party’s policy are:— Finance The policy of reducing rates of taxation will be continued, i with incentives for greater l effort and economic progress. ■ Moves towards taxing spending rather than earnings will : continue.

Better business methods in Government will be promoted; and a representative of private investors will be appointed to the National Provident Fund Board.

The policy of making maximum use of New Zealanders’ savings will continue, as will the policy of using overseas loans in payment for part of the imported content of raw materials and equipment for development projects. Objectives will continue to be to give incentives for people to acquire higher skills more, to encourage young people to acquire higher skills and assume greater responsibilities, to expand economic production on farms and factories, to keep costs of production in check, and to hold the cost of living and the value of money. Legislation and policies will be promoted to ensure that the creation and issue of money is balanced with the production of goods and services.

Monetary policy will be directed to the maintenance of full employment, stable prices, and a steady rate of economic growth. Removal of restraints will be timed to ensure further inflationary pressures are not generated.

Support for international monetary and economic cooperation will continue. Reports of the independent Monetary and Economic Council will continue to be published. More use will be made of economic forecasting. Edueation Highest priority will be given to educational requirements, including buildings and equipment, reduced class sizes, more and better-trained teachers, and adequate ancillary staffing. The Educational Priorities Conference will be continued, and there will be more emphasis on technical training for farming, industry and commerce.

The work of the Vocational Training Council will be supported. The programme of reducing school staffing ratios will continue, and better facilities and staffing conditions will be provided for Teachers’ Colleges. Further university based schemes of teacher training will be encouraged, and a vigorous Teachers’ College building programme will be pursued.

Student health and welfare services will be reviewed, and special attention will be paid to teaching a wider range of foreign languages. More work experience classes will be established, and public examinations will be reformed. The introduction of elements of internal assessment into the school certificate examination will be considered.

High priority will continue to be given to pre-school education. The Special Education Service which caters for the needs of the handicapped will be extended.

Pre-school education will continue to be expanded where Maori children can benefit, and pre-employment schemes for Maori children will be extended. Guidance counsellors will be appointed to more secondary schools, and where necessary, the Vocational Guidance Service will be upgraded. Prefabricated classrooms will be phased out, and the programme of building new schools will be supplemented. Building additional rooms to implement the smaller classes policy will be expedited. Library rooms will be established in primary schools with more than six classes as soon as finance can be made available.

Adequate assistance to independent schools will be continued, and will not be altered without consultation. Additional technical courses will be attached to secondary schools in smaller centres, and vocational departments will be attached to secondary schools where necessary. The technical institute building programme will be pressed forward, and new courses at the apprentice, technician and diploma levels will be established. The Technical Correspondence Institute will be extended, and the financial needs of universities will be met. Full support will be given the National Council of Adult Education. Social welfare High priority will continue to be given social and welfare services within the Government, and assistance to voluntary groups will continue. Training facilities for social workers will be extended, research into social problems will be increased, more publicity will be given on welfare matters, and particular emphasis will be given the needs of large urban communities. Studies will be undertaken to remove gaps in various welfare programmes, and greater emphasis will be placed on rehabilitation to enable victims of accidents and illness to recover more quickly. Research will be carried out into measuring the standard of living in general, and the special needs of particular groups. Benefits will continue to be reviewed. A scheme will be introduced for financial help to child-care centres run by voluntary non-profit organisations. The practicability of paying benefits and pensions at more frequent intervals will be investigated. There will be more studies of the causes of crime, drug addiction, and anti-social behaviour. Health Progressive health legislation will continue to be promoted, the organisation of health services will be improved, and medical and health-related professional education will be stimulated. There will be full cooperation with organisations and local bodies in providing accommodation and care for the aged.

Measures will be introduced to reduce hospital waiting lists. Hospital boards will be encouraged to allow doctors adequate opportunity to study overseas, and measures to assist private hospitals and maternity homes will be continued. A new capital works programme will be introduced to meet the demands for hospital services. Completion of the Auckland University medical school will be hastened, and reviews of doctor requirements will be continued. More endeavours will be made to attract doctors from overseas to relieve any shortages shown by the reviews, and the allowances for small-town and country doctors will be revised. Loans will be made available for new medical graduates entering private practice, and subsidies for locum tenens and ancillary services in rural practices will be improved. The School of Advanced Nursing Studies will be replaced by a new improved school at Thomdon, and recommendations made by a committee on nursing services will be given immediate attention. Support for the Medical Research Council will be substantially increased. Health education in the drug field will be continued, and a drug educational programme will be introduced at secondary schools. Sex education programmes of the Health and Education Departments will be extended, and the educational programme on the dangers of smoking will be intensified. Schemes for accommodation of the aged will be expanded, and the cash allocation for the 1973-76 period for subsidies to church and welfare organisations providing old people’s homes will be doubled to slsm. Subsidies and loans to local bodies for pensioner housing will be increased, and hospital boards will be encouraged to provide more geriatric accommodation. There will be more use of disabled civilian centres, within four years up to 50 per cent of the cost of fulltime hospital chaplaincies will be paid, and there will be a major re-equipment programme for the school dental service. Housing Special attention will be paid to balanced community development when planning major housing projects. Assistance to local bodies to redevelop decaying areas will continue. The apprenticeship system in the building industry will be improved, and the immigration of more skilled tradesmen encouraged. Greater discretion will be given local Allocation Committees in dealing with applications for State rental houses, based on social, welfare, or humanitarian grounds. More attention will be paid to the design of State rental houses. Subsidies and loans to local bodies for pensioner flats will be continued. Steps will be taken to ensure that new homes are built in sufficient numbers at reasonable prices. Finance of up to $lO,OOO a home will be provided to assist counties through the rural housing scheme to provide accommodation for farm workers. Foreign affairs New Zealand’s standing as an independent and outward looking nation will be strengthened. Close ties will be maintained with Britain and the Commonwealth. Regional co-operation will be promoted, and links with Europe will be strengthened. Work will continue towards normalisation of relations with China, while continuing the association with Taiwan. New Zealand representation abroad will be expanded. New Zealand will play its full part in regional security arrangements. Work towards a target of 1 per cent of G.N.P. for aid to developing countries will continue. Defence Adequate, well-equipped and well-trained forces will be provided to defend New Zealand and carry out international obligations. Collective defence arrangements, particularly with the United States and Australia, will be maintained. A vigorous policy of collective defence will be pursued. An effective national service programme will be maintained. The three services will continue to be separate. Overseas trade New Zealand’s trading interests will be protected and promoted, and work will continue towards an adequate shipping service. Incentives will be provided for an extended range of export products and markets. Pressure for the most favourable interpretation of the New Zealand Protocol to Britain’s Treaty of Accession to the E.E.C., and to provide for marketing dairy products beyond 1977, and to safeguard and promote lamb sales in an enlarged E.E.C. will continue.

Further growth in transTasman trade will be encouraged, and the customs tariff will be reconstructed to protect New Zealand industry and enlarge trading opportunities. Tariff prefer-

' ences will be preserved where these would be mutulally advantageous. I The system of export (seminars will be expanded. Agriculture Efficient farming will be promoted by providing incentives and an economic climate conducive to profitable production. Programmes in breeding, cropping and horticulture will be developed. Producer control over the marketing of primary produce will be continued. A referendum of woolgrowers will be held after January 1, 1974, to determine whether the Wool Marketing Corporation should have the power of total acquisition. The aim will be to increase production where economic, diversify production, keep costs low, and market efficiently. A Wine Institute will be established to encourage the attainment of world standards of quality. Fertiliser subsidies will continue. The Advisory Services of the Department of Agriculture will be improved. The Land Settlement programme will be reviewed. A new policy aimed at promoting irrigation on a sounder basis will be promoted. Industry Doubled output of manufacturing industries during the 70s with employment for 100,000 more people will be the goal. There will be a policy of protection against imports in accord with recommendations of the National Development Conference. Antidumping measures will continue. Policies designed to restrain increases in the cost structure will continue. Regional industrial growth will be encouraged. There will be full support for vigorous private enterprise. Stabilisation of Price Regulations will be retained as a short-term measure to restrain prices while moving towards the policy of encouraging competition. The Emergency Protection Authority will continue to provide for a quick preliminary review of cases where emergency protection is called for. Broadcasting The N.Z.B.C. and the Broadcasting Authority will continue to operate as independent bodies. A second television channel will be introduced after the Broadcasting Authority completes its hearings. Further progress will be made towards educational television. There will be greater development of local talent and programme production, and continued N.Z.B.C. assistance of the arts and cultural activities. The N.Z.B.C. will introduce colour television by October 1973. Industrial relations The real income of wageearners will be increased in keeping with national prosperity, productivity and development. Management and unionists will be convinced of their obligation to society, and unqualified support will be given to the principles of conciliation and arbitration. Increasing emphasis will be placed on industrial safety, and the flow of suitable immigrants will be continued. A service to assist in the placing of women in employment, and the retaining or training of older women, will be set up. The results of a special study of apprenticeship will be used to indicate necessary changes. Constitutional The rights of free speech and assembly within the law will be protected, and citizens will be protected from those who seek to impose their views by disruption, violence, or obstruction contrary to the law.

The rights of property owners upon compulsory acquisition of land by the State and local authorities will be protected. The policy will aim at enlargement of personal liberI ties and responsibilities under the law. The extension of the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction to local authorities is being discussed. Steps will be taken to protect citizens against the wrongful use of personal information stored in computer banks. Law and order All possible will be done to combat crime, particularly violence, and to ensure people are adequately protected. The causes of crime, drug addiction and anti-social behaviour will be studied in depth. Trafficking in drugs, and the illicit use of drugs, will be dealt with resolutely. The Law Revision Commission and law reform committees will be encouraged, and the law and its procedures will be kept in line with modern conditions and the needs of the people. The probation service will be expanded as suitable appointees become available. More periodic detention centres will be set up. Full support will continue to be given to the Police Youth Aid Section. Further provision will be made for legal aid to alleged offenders before they appear in Court. Provision is being made for a simplified procedure in dealing with minor offences in the Courts. Legislation on gaming and the conduct of lotteries will be thoroughly revised. Local government Urgent consideration will be given the whole question of financing local government. Subsidies for sewerage and water supply will be continued. The prospects of regional grouping will be examined, as will adjusting the structure of local government and eventually establishing a specialist State department. Public participation in local elections, with possibly wider use of postal voting, will be encouraged. The Ombudsman’s jurisdiction will be extended to local body officers. Rating and valuation methods will be reviewed to ensure that the liability for rates is distributed as equitably as possible. Regional growth Promotion of economic development outside the metropolitan centres will be continued, and the regional development section of the Department of Trade and Industry will be required to examine the opportunities for economic growth in all areas and recommend incentives or concessions to promote specific development. Resource - oriented regional development will be encouraged, and a dollar for dollar subsidy will be provided for approved regional resource surveys. Freight assistance, special investment allowances and other incentives are being considered. New industries in smaller centres will be encouraged, and a demonstration unit for growing small crops under irrigation will be established at the Templeton Research Farm. Environment Maximum conservation of scenic areas and natural attractions will be continued, as will the adding to the reserves, domains, parks, and wildlife sanctuaries. A long-term policy to encourage harmony between man and environment will be developed, and immediate consideration will be given to the recommendations of the Environmental Council. Loans will be given local authorities reponsible for Clean Air Zones so householders may be financially assisted to convert unsatisfactory coal-burning appli-

lances to non-polluting lingi International support for a i comprehensive treaty banning ! all nuclear testing will be sought. A water-use policy will be promoted by the National Water and Soil Conservation Authority. A policy of adding to beach and island reserves will be continued. I Further steps will be taken to preserve adequate weti lands for wildlife, and to ensure endangered species are protected. Science Research in universities, industry and state departments will be encouraged, and welltrained science teachers will be provided. Extension services in both farming and manufacturing industries will be expanded, and special assistance will be given manufacturers applying new scientific advances. New Zealand participation in international scence will be increased, and scientific research in Antarctica will be continued. Arts and culture Assistance to organisations and individuals willing to promote the arts and culture will be continued. Legislation on the sale of historical articles and Maori artifacts will be reviewed. A committee has been set up to investigate the provision of recompense to New Zealand authors whose books are lent through libraries. Youth The employment placement service started in Auckland will be extended to other centres where needed. The Youth Services Branch of the Department of Internal Affairs will be strengthened. Wider local authority involvement in meeting the needs of youth will be encouraged. Legal ages will be reviewed when enough time has passed; priority will be given youth employment problems. Government departments will cooperate with the Commonwealth Games organising committee in providing extra facilities and services. Maori affairs Continued ownership and development of land by Maoris will be encouraged, and advances in Maori education, especially pre-school and technical, will continue. The importance of Maori culture will be acknowledged and Maori electorates will be continued while the Maori people clearly indicate the desire for this. Surveys of specific areas of Maori land to assess the potential for economic development will be carried out. Further provision will be made for guidance and legal aid to alleged offenders. The Maori language will be made an available subject in primary schools and more secondary schools. Retraining and adult education programmes will be extended. Work to ensure adequate housing will be continued. Forestry Farmer, commercial and local authority participation in plantings will continue to be encouraged. Manufacture and processing will be fostered, and high priority will be given to forestry research. Areas of forests will be opened up for use by the public, A bill will be introduced to enable groups of local authorities to form separate legal entities to acquire and develop land for forestry. Minerals and energy Local participation in development will be encouraged, and financial incentives provided where development is of national significance. Research into processing New Zealand minerals will be encouraged. There will be long-term planning for the use and conservation of energy resources, and realistic pricing. Incentives and direct assistance will be provided for exploration and development. The environment will be protected against undue disturbance, and be restored where practical. Transport A road safety research foundation will be established, and greater emphasis will be given to driver improvement schools and advanced driver training schemes. There will be an immediate review of the possibility of tug or barge services following any recommendations by the Wilbur Smith Report. Crippled Children Society. — Officers elected at the biennial conference of the New Zealand Crippled Children Society in Wellington recently were: President Emeritus, Sir John Hott (Wellington); national president, Mr J. E. Greenslade (Palmerston North); vice-presidents: Mr J. S. Rutherfurd (Auckland), Professor H. E. Field, Mr A. B. Mackenzie (Christchurch), Messrs J. R. Mills (Southland), and Mr H. L. M. Peirse (Wellington); national council: Dr I. C. Isdale (Rotorua), Messrs C. R. Clayton (Havelock North), D. S. Deacon (Nelson), W. B. Hunt (Wellington), M. N. Mayman (Timaru), W. A. Stephens (Wanganui), H. S. J. Tilly (Dunedin), G. R. Williams (Auckland), E. T. Cochrane (Timaru), M. N. Brooker (Hamilton), D. H. Ross (Education Department), W. Herewini (Maori Affairs Department), Dr B. J. Mackay (Health Department).