‘Urgent action required’

Press, 12 November 1981, Page 12

‘Urgent action required’

SIR

BASIL ARTHUR

Urgent action is required in Timaru in the areas of unemployment, rental housing, and taxation reform, says Sir Basil Arthur, the Labour member of Parliament for Timaru. The growth tempo of the economy has run down and New Zealand must put more investment and encouragement into primary production, “sharpen up” its marketing techniques and intelligence. he says. New markets are opening up and it is expected that a further 5900 jobs on farms and in additional processing could be created every year. A major forestry programme must be initiated in South Canterbury. “With an excellent deep-water port at Timaru . . . this industry should be our top priority," Sir Basil Arthur says. Timaru is already becoming a major fish processing port. Sir Basil says. Labour had introduced regional development programmes that gave places such as Timaru hope for further growth and expansion. From 1975, Sir Basil has been on the South Canterbury Regional Development Council. “This wonderful concept has been slowly run down over the last six years,” he says. Regional development councils should have their own autonomy. The National Government's conservative policies have failed to hold inflation. They have caused increased unemployment and reduced small business activity. Labour policies would once again give New Zealanders hope, security, and prosperity. says Sir Basil. Sir Basil is “supremely confident" that Labour will win this election. “We are presenting the nation with positive, con-

structive, futuristic policies,” he says. Labour has held the Timaru seat for the past 53 years, and Sir Basil has been its member of Parliament for 19 years, since he won a by-election in 1962. Minister of Transport in the Labour Cabinet of 197275. Sir Basil became ShadowMinister of Agriculture. Fisheries, Forests, and the Rural Bank in 1979. Born in Timaru in 1929, he has a family of six. He breeds Coopworth sheep and has a 400-tree apple orchard. A former president of the South Canterbury Savings Bank, he has for 10 years been national vice-president of the Youth Hostels Association. He did a stint with the Army Service Corps in the Occupation Force in Japan

and Korea. In 1961, Sir Basil was awarded an industrial bursary in Britain under the Imperial Relations Trust. He has been on the Lincoln College Council since 1969. He has played representative sport in rugby, badminton, and cricket. Other hobbies are music and reading. His baronetcy is a hereditary title conferred on his great-great-grandfather, Sir George Arthur (1784-1854) in 1841. Sir George spent 42 years in the Army and colonial administration.