DELAY CRITICISED

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 52, 30 August 1945, Page 7

DELAY CRITICISED

AIR FORGE RELEASES

FIRM HAND NEEDED

The Minister of Defence (Mr. Jones) would have to "take the gloves off Ito the Air Force if men were to jbe released as expeditiously as the t Government required, said Mr. W., a. I Bodkin (National, Central Otago) in - the House of Representatives yester- '. day afternoon, speaking to the Imprest . Supply Bill. Mr. Bodkin asked when youths who f went into camp at the age of 18 and • had been in camp ever since were »to be released. ■ ,_ . ; Mr T. H McCombs (Government, ' Lyttelton): They are going to be released after men with families, 1 °Mr. Bodkin: Why- shouldn't they all be released? We may well ask the Government when the camps are going to be broken up and how long this gigantic expenditure is to continue. The Army is acting reasonably, but with the Air Force there js an entirely different state of affairs. Mr. Bodkin then quoted a case in, which he had interested himself, and ' asked if the reply of the Minister to a letter were reasonable. A returned soldier of the last war permitted his ' son to enter camp at 18, and that lad had been over four years in the ser--1 vice. His father, a farmer, broke down . in health as a result of war injuries, and made application to the Armed 1 Forces Appeal Board for the release of the lac. The board rejected the appeal, and he (Mr. Bodkin) had. no fault to find with that, but in the interval hostilities ceased and a deferent set of conditions applied. He himself then made an application for the release of the lad on the cessation of hostilities, and received the following reply from the Minister: _ . have ascertained from the Air Departr ment that an appeal lodged with the ' Armed Forces Appeal Board in Dun- ', edin was declined on July 31. Howi ever, in view of the cessation of hosl tilities and the general demobilisation ; which will now follow the youth will s be considered for release m his turn. s I regret that at present I am unable [ to give any indication of the likely date on which this will be effected. PRODUCTION FOR BRITAIN. Mr. Bodkin said he would ask if that were not a reasonable request on. his part. An effort should be made by the Defence authorities to release as quickly as possible every man pos-, sible, so that New Zealand could get on with the production of those com-, modifies which Britain needed so. sorely. If he had made such a request to the Army a great deal would have been done to release the youth. The reply would have been very different. . .. ■ Mr Bodkin then expressed his view that the Minister would have to take off the gloves to the Air Force. The whole situation should be firmly,, handled, he added. He refused to believe that the officers responsible for ' the demobilisation of the Air Force could not expedite an application such, as that he had mentioned, an application for a farm worker urgently, needed. . , . "If the Department is concerned in proceeding leisurely and reducing as slowly as possible we will get nowhere," he continued. "I do take exception to the attitude adopted by the Air Force authorities regarding the release of men and suggest to the Minis-. ter that it is high time the whole ques-: tion was thrashed out by the House ; and for the House to lay down the policy to be adopted." „„_-,. ~ Mr. W. A. Sheat (National, Patea) said he had made representations for the release of a mechanic for a firm of carriers running a large fleet of trucks in Patea. Three weeks ago he had been advised that the case would be looked into and he would be informed of the result as soon as possible. He had had no further reply. The case was an urgent one, as the firm was getting into a serious position through its inability to obtain the services of a mechanic. He suggested that such a delay was unfair and that consideration of such applications should be . speeded up. Even if a release could , not be granted, to. be advised of that would at least let the applicant knowwhere he stood. In a rural districtparticularly, transport was most important, for if it were limited or handicapped production would suffer. Now the war was over he believed that where representations "were made - for the release of a man who was urgently required for production or for ancillary services it was reasonable to expect a prompt decision. In the case he had mentioned he was satisfied that it should have been possible to give a decision in three or four days. Delays of three or four weeks were not good enough. "GROSS INEFFICIENCY." There was gross inefficiency somewhere, continued Mr. Sheat, and it was time those responsible for the administration of the affairs of the country took a look into the ramifications of some of the Departments and made some necessary clean-ups by rooting out some of those who apparently were doing their best to delay decisions in such matters and delay demobilisation. He asked the Prime Minister to make inquiries and give an assurance that delays would not be allowed to continue.

The Minister of Finance (Mr. Nash), replying to the debate, said that all men ought to be let out who could be usefully let out, provided it did not disorganise the service. Mr. F. Langstone (Government, Waimarino): I thought the war was over. The Minister replied that all the forces could not be dismissed immediately. There were £70,000,000 worth of goods in the country, and if all the forces were dismissed those goods would be worth only £20,000,000 in six months' time if they were still there.