SCHOOL AT ORAKEI OPENED

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 237, 4 July 1938, Page 6

SCHOOL AT ORAKEI OPENED

State Housing Settlement CEREMONY PERFORMED BY PRIME MINISTER By Telegraph—Press Association. . Auckland, July 3. With a gold key the Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage, opened a new school at Orakei, where about 160 State houses are now occupied, in the presence of about 3000 cheering spectators on Saturday afternoon. He said the school cost about £13,000, but it was money well spent and he expressed the hope that it would serve the children of the district for many generations to come. The ceremony was held outdoors and Mr. Savage and his Government associates were given a demonstrative reception. The official party included the mayor of Auckland, Sir Ernest Davis, Hie Minister of Internal Affairs, Hon. W. E. Parry, the Attorney-General, Hon. H. G. R. Mason, the Under-Secre-tary in Charge of Housing, Mr. J. A. Lee, and other members of Parliament.

Mr. Parry said the Orakei State settlement and school would stand as a living monument to Mr. Savage as Prime Minister, who had thus fulfilled the wish of a lifetime. Mr. Parry said he hoped it would be his own duty to assist in developing the physical and mental constitution of the children at every school tlirough the organisation which it was proposed to establish in New Zealand. The best legacy the Government could leave was a physically sound generation of children, and there would then be no worry about the future of the country.

With the opening of the school on a site unparalleled in New Zealand the Government’s housing scheme was well on its way to proving its own success, said Mr. Lee. The Prime Minister’s only concern was that 10 times as many houses bad not been provided. The Minister of Finance said he would find the money, and it was hoped eventually to reproduce Orakei in many places throughout the length and breadth of New Zealand.

A presentation to the school of: 15 native trees to represent the Prime Minister, the High Commissioner, and 13 Cabinet Ministers, was made on behalf of the Tamaki branch of the Labour Party. On rising to perform the opening of the main door, the Prime Minister was greeted with cheers and I lie singing of "For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow.” In his address Mr. Savage emphasised the necessity for the extension of education facilities in New Zealand, and referred to the inability of the Government to find men to do the work requiring attention. He referred to the transformation In Orakei in the past two years, and said the settlement scheme had been referred to as a wild dream, but it had come true. In his own wildest dreams, he said, he never imagined being there in the heart of an ideal residential suburb opening a magnifi-

cent school on one of the finest sites it was possible to find.

"We have a lot. to do before we have done justice to the iveople, but we are well on tlie way,” continued Mr. Savage. “We are £17,000,000 in arrears in New Zealand in the matter of public buildings, and I want to say that it is not the whole of the Government’s responsibility. There is a shortage of men to provide tlie facilities we are prepared to give. "We want men to come forward and work,” lie said. "We will supply the money and ask nobody questions as to where it will come from. We want 330 more houses like those now at Orakei, but no Government can do it without the assistance of men who do the work.” HOUSING SCHEMES Provision Of Bachelor Flats By Telegraph—Press Association. Auckland, July 2. "Now that the Department of Housing Construction is in full swing and producing a type of dwelling suitable for a person of average income ami an average-sized family, attention is being given to special housing for other sections of the community,” said the Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage, this morning. "The provision of bachelor Hats for single people working in cities is being considered. Plans for the first block to lie erected at Wellington are being prepared. The first trial block of four fiats, suitable for pensioners and aged couples, is almost completed in Auckland. "For families of unusual size designs of larger houses are under way, a special bouse of this nature having been erected for the quadruplet family at Dunedin. “Finally there is the problem of a cheaper type of house for the lowest income group to be rented at a figure lower than the average rents now being charged. Two trial houses of this nature are nearing completion at Wellington. Later will come the clearance of slums and their replacement by multiple-unit dwellings. This problem needs special legislation and cannot be attacked until tlie acuteness of the present housing shortage has been reduced.” Mr. Savage said that completed houses were now coming to hand at the rate of 60 a week. The department's ojieratloiis were so extensive that there were serious difficulties in obtaining sufficient: skilled labour and materials. It appeared doubtful whether tlie present resources of the Dominion could produce 100 a week for the department additional to the normal requirements of private enterprise and other State departments. Tlie I'rime Minister added that 172 general contractors were working for tlie department, and -ISOO persons were directly employed.