ADDRESS-IN-REPLY

Greymouth Evening Star, 4 March 1943, Page 2

ADDRESS-IN-REPLY

MR. HOLLAND’S SPEECH MANPOWER AND POLICE WELLINGTON, March 3. The Address-in-Reply debate opened when the House resumed at 7.30 this evening. Mr Holland (Leader of the Opposition) said: The first and most important subject at present is what some of the Press has referred, to as “the manpower muddle.” He said the Government had no definite policy regarding manpower. There was no justification for the present number of men under arms in the country. Our manufacturers had done a magnificent job. It was a great tribute to the private enterprise system that this country has been able to contribute so much. But manufacturers were feeling increasing pressure and longer hours. They would have fen better about the whole thing if a more sensible manpower policy had been adopted. He quoted Mr C. B. Smith, President of the New Zealand Manufacturers’ Federation, who had contended that manpower problems were becoming more and more difficult, and had said there were thousands of men in the Army who were simply wasting their time. It was time that the Government made up its mind on manpower. For instance, there was no justification in calling up any men in the 40 years to 45 years age group when there were thousands of single men available. Mr J. A. Lee (Democratic Labour): Our commitments are too vast, anyhow! , , Mr Holland: I am not prepared to argue along those lines, but I am not prepared to disagree with what thi honourable gentleman says. (Laughter). Continuing, Mr Holland made a sincere plea for a rearrangement of the Government’s attitude towards younger servicemen and women. These young people should be given every opportunity of preparing for life ahead. Certainly, he thought.that military training should be given, and that it was necessary. He contended that it could be given in six months, and that then the individual could be sent back to industry. It was wrong that these young people should be left to twiddle their thumbs, after they had completed their training. The second point with which he proposed to deal was whai some called “The Infernal Affairs Department.” The Internal Affairs Department was a useless encumbrance on tnis country. Judged on its past record, it was neither use nor ornament. Everything that it touched became dearer, and it was responsible for the increase in the cost of living in this country. Mr Holland said that the police had made a request for increased wages. He added that not even Departments of State were permitted to publish in their house journals the fact that they wanted more wages. He also made a plea for an overhaul of the censorship and. publicity regulations, which he said were a disgrace. It was the right of the police to advocate that their wrongs be redressed.

Mr Fraser: There will be no agitation inside of the police force! Mr Holland contended that the Prime Minister had exercised his judgment quite wrongly when he prohibited newspapers from publishing the fact that employees of tile State wanted some wage adjustments, and he contended that the police had been “hamstrung and tongue-tied.” “If we don’t want to agree with the Government, let us disagree; but don’t drive these things underground,” continued Mr Holland. Dealing with the mining position, Mr Holland - said that the latest figures showed that, during the last nine months, there had been a loss on the Blackball mine, which the Fovernment had purchased, of £8,792. . The Minister of Mines: What did the Government make out of the other State mines?

Mr Holland: There was a profit of £22,500 last year, but in order to make that profit, a subsidy of £25,000 was needed.” MR. SULLIVAN'S REPLY Following Mr. Holland, Mr. Sullivan, Minister of Supply, dealt with the manpower issue. Before the entry of Japan into the war, the Opposition had criticised the Government for not having enough manpower in the Armed Forces. _ Now there had come a barrage of criticism that the Government was doing too much, said the Minister. “The real guide to' the Government’s policy on manpower has been the prevailing war situation,” he said. Japan’s entry into the war had increased the demand for manpower. Because the Government had to give the utmost support to the fighting services to-day, it looked as if New Zealand was a little more secure than it was formerly, and that might justify some reasonable re-examination of tne country’s military commitments; though, after hearing of. the enormous Japanese concentrations on the north of Australia, and after listening to the warnings of Prime Minister Curtin and General MacArthur, they had to move with the greatest care and circumspection, and they could not afford to relax unduly. Mr. Sullivan also paid tribute to the New Zealand manufacturers and .farmers. If there had been any manpower muddle, he said, how had it been possible for New Zealand to do what it had done in increasing its export production in both its primary and secondary industries, and in .maintaining tne supplies for the civil population here? Personally, he thought that New Zealand had done a very good job of production. Referring to Mr. Holland’s criticism of the increase in the cost of living as a result of the Government’s policy, Mr. Sullivan pointed out that a committee of experts had examined the position to ascertain the facts, and they reported that the rise in the cost of living in New Zealand had been 13 per cent., while in Australia it was 22 per cent.; in South Africa 19 per cent.; in Canada 16 per cent.. and in the United Kingdom 30 per cent.

Tne Minister said that he deplored Mr. Holland’s statement in connection with the policy of pay increases. We had a very good police force, and this Government had shown its confidence by permitting it to have its own organisation. But for Mr. Holland to state that they should say what they liked in their own journal was advocating a very dangerous course, and the Minister would be surprised if Mr. Holland -were not taken to task by some of his own supporters. Mr. W. P. Endean (Nat., Remuera). quoted a number of statements in speeches by members of the Government in regard to defence policy in tne past. He said that in the year 1915 the New Zealand Division was well armed. It had been able to meet the enemv on almost equal terms. But had the Second New Zealand Division been able to meet the enemy with full equipment in Greece and in Crete? Mr. Endean criticised the increase in civil expenditure. He regretted that the matter of the return of the New Zealand Division to the Dominion should have been mentioned in the recent He said that it was a matter for Mr. Churchill and Mr. Roosevelt where the. Division should serve.

Mr. C. Morgan Williams (Govt., Kaiapoi) spoke of the increased birth

rate in New Zealand, stating that no other people of the western European race had increased its birthrate as we had in New Zealand. The debate was interrupted by the adjournment at 10..30, when the House rose until 2.30 to-morrow. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. WELLINGTON, March 3. Speaking in the Address in Reply debate in the Legislative Council. Hon. W. Perry expressed the opinion that there would be a long, hard road of sacrifice to traverse before there was a final victory of the United Nations. All we had won so far was a battle of survival. The sieges against German occupied Europe and Japan might take years. A similar warning against optimism was given by Mr. O’Kane, who> made a plea for the maintenance of farm production and for more labour’ for the farmers. Ths Council adjourned until 23( to-morrow.