WORKMEN FROM AUSTRALIA

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 132, 7 June 1939, Page 13

WORKMEN FROM AUSTRALIA

GENERALLY SATISFIED

"Four hundred Australian artisans who came to New Zealand on contract to the Labour Government, plus four or five hundred more who came to the Dominion 'on spec,' are, if an average can be struck, settling in and liking it," writes the New Zlealand correspondent of the Melbourne "Herald."

"Engaged chiefly on the Government's State housing scheme, scattered throughout the country on carpentry and masonry wdrk, these men are getting steady employment, good wages, and pleasant living conditions. Some have complained, but the complainants are in the minority. Others are happy in their work, but nostalgic, yearning for the city lights again. Most have one objection only—and that is the cost of living.

"Out at Miramar and Johnsonville I spoke to some of these transplanted Aussies. The weather was bitter cold; the scene was desolate gorse hills, studded with cottage skeletons. But the men seemed happy.

"Said a carpenter from Sydney, one of the batch brought over by the travelling member of Parliament, Mr. J. Hodgens: 'This is the best break I've had in years. Three weeks here, and not a day without work. Five days' work a week, and plenty of fun.' A Brisbane man was not so pleased. He liked New Zealand, but he was paying more for his board and finding less to do in his spare time. He was finding that 30s a week for a room and breakfast and tea, with laundry and about seven meals a week to provide for outside that, was rather more than he had ex: pected.

"Another Brisbane man summed it up this way: 'No, there's not a grievance in the bunch of us, except in this way: . Although we are all better off, with regular work and shorter hours, we're paying more to live. It's all right for the single man, but not for the man with a wife.' • Some of these men have done well for themselves. One Brisbane man came to New Zealand, not with the Government batch, but about that time. He worked as a carpenter for a month or so, and then set up for himself. He is working on a State contract, building a block of garages for the new Johnsonville settlement. But he isn't happy. "These men all told me the same story: For the energetic single man, New Zealand is the land of opportunity. For the married man, with children, it is not. They advise young men to come here, but they warn married men to stay in Australia. "The Australians were brought here with a guarantee of 12 months' employment. They are pleased with the way they have been treated, and are confident of getting their year's work. More than half of them are working in Wellington- and Lower Hutt. Most of them are single, and Government officials know of no case where a married man selected by Mr. Hodgens has brought his wife and family to the Dominion. Most of the men are refund-

ing their steamer passage to the Government at the rate of 10s a week. Others from Australia, and batches from England, are still arriving in New Zealand. Prospects of work, especially for skilled men, are still bright.

"Mr. Hodgens assures me that all his chosen men are contented, and from what I have seen of Mr. Hodgens's men on these housing jobs I am convinced that Mr. Hodgens is a good picker. But he isn't going back to Australia for more men—for some time at least."