AUSTRALIA

Greymouth Evening Star, 14 May 1945, Page 7

AUSTRALIA

MANPOWER CONTROL MELBOURNE, May 13. The compulsory directio of labour in Australia would end with the defeat of the Japanese. The Federal Minister of Labour, Mr. Holloway, told this to a conference of trade union leaders. “This is one control which will not be continued one minute longer than is necessary,” he said. “Manpower controls, like all national security regulations, could be continued for six months after final' victory, but the Government wishes to, abolish the manpower controls as soon as possible.” Mr. Holloway commented on a statement by Mr. Churchill that conscription might be necessary in Britain for some years. Mr. Holloway said that he would oppose any form of such compulsion in Australia, even for post-war home defence. LAUNCHING COMEDY BRISBANE, May 13. A ten thousand-ton freighter, the “Norman,” launched herself on Saturday a quarter of an hour before the official launching ceremony was due to begin. She slipped her blocks, and slid gracefully into the Brisbane River just as the Commonwealth Director of Shipping, Sir Thomas Gordon, was about to address those present. The Norman is the third ship of her class to be launched from the same slip. The first ship stuck on the slip, and refused to move for some days. OVERTIME TAXATION. (Rec. noon^ ELBOURNEi May 14. Unless the Federal Government clearly indicated its intention to relieve the economic pressure on workers it might expect defeat, said Mr. A ’e Monk, secretary of the Australian Council of Trades Unions. I Unless some attention was paid to the question of taxation of overtime,

the Government could not hope to induce workers to work longer - hours, he added. Mr. Monk was replying to statements by the Acting Prime Minister (Mr. Chifley) at the conference between Cabinet Ministers and Union delegates. Mr. Chifley and the Minister for Labour (Mr. Holloway) had appealed to unionists to work at least a 48 hour week to hasten the defeat of Japan. Mr. Chifley had also said it was not practicable to adopt any altered method of taxation of overtime, and he would not recommend the introduction of any new system.