General Election BASED ON CHRISTIAN IDEALS

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 307, 22 September 1943, Page 9

General Election BASED ON CHRISTIAN IDEALS

National Party’s Policy

MR. CROFT AT LOWER HUTT •‘I joined the National Party because its policy is based on Christian ideals, and New Zealand badly needs this policy, said Mr. N. P. Croft (National, Hutt), speaking at St. James's Hall, Lower Hutt, to a large attendance last night. The speaker continued that to live up to those ideals it was necessary for the individual to have his or her freedom. It was definitely wrong that the Government and other parties should be preaching one thing and one thing only, the god of money. New Zealand could not worship this god of money. There was something finer, something more solid in this country to enable it to build a nation that would be the pride of. every New Zealander. The people's minds had to be freed from this poisonous talk, always of money. The National Party’s policy was nothing for nothing, but the right to work for something, and he, the. speaker, felt that every man wanted it that way. By adopting this policy the freedom of the individual would do away with the continual sectional strife in industry promoted principally by trades union domination. Another most important point, continued Mr. Croft, was that if the men of New Zealand took the same interest in the country, as did their womenfolk, we would be far better off both in government and community life. Mr. Croft said that immediately the National Party regained power they would form a non-party government designed to cut out all contentious matters so that the war effort could be carried out to its fullest extent. This would mean, first, the urgent revision of the hopeless manpower muddle which. was largely due to inexperienced men in some key positions. It seemed that the Labour Party wanted to break people down, and this was illustrated by the fact that thousands of men were in camps doing nothing. On the other hand, mothers with children were looking for help all over the country, but hundreds of girls were driving officers round in cars. The people left in industry were suffering in health because of the long hours of overtime . , . . “This country also needs immigrants, but what 1 want to see are immigrants who are our own flesh and blood,” said the speaker when speaking on motherhood endowment.

A voice: “Where arc you going to put them?” * „ Another voice: "In the State flats! Continuing, the speaker said that, though the Government were asking for a larger population they had done nothing to help mothers in regard to making available to them the things they, required, but by sales tax and the stifling of supplies they were hindering the mothers in every way. Speaking on pensions, Mr. Croft said that the old-age pensioners, many of them weak and infirm, had to. wait for hours in queues to be paid. This was. definitely wrong and was a real hardship on the aged people. He could sec no reason why the pension money should not be posted* to each recipient each month. He concluded by saying that the Government were claiming a lot of credit for the marvellous effort of our men in the Middle East, but be considered that the men would always fight equally as well under any Government.