HOUSING & HEALTH

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 21, 24 July 1940, Page 15

HOUSING & HEALTH

TWOFOLD RESPONSIBILITY

A belief in the need for more housing in New Zealand not only for people to live in but for the Plunket Society and other institutions under the Department of Health was expressed by the Minister of Health (the Hon. H. T. Armstrong) at the annual meeting of the Plunket Society* yesterday afternoon. "Perhaps I was appointed Minister of Health because I was Minister of Housing," he said with a smile; Mr. Armstrong spoke of his visit to the Otaki Health Camp yesterday morning, and said he had seen the splendid work being done there under most trying circumstances and handicapped in every way. In one large room three classes were being held and the teachers had to whisper to the children so that the work of one class would not interfere with the others.

Houses were needed in New Zealand for babies, children, and mothers. If anything had a right to come first, that had. "I am going to combine the two jobs—health and housing," he said. "The preservation of the health of mothers and babies has never, in the history of the world, been more necessary than it is today. The Minister of Health is sometimes criticised for not creating any assets for the money he spends. I think the greatest asset a country can produce is healthy babies, so I don't think there will be anyone in the House brave enough to criticise me for my work on your behalf."