NEED FOR PLANNING

Greymouth Evening Star, 20 September 1946, Page 8

NEED FOR PLANNING

WHOLESALE INFLUX NOT FAVOURED Men foe mines and mills (P’A.) WELLINGTON, Sept. 20. . .The conclusion that no policy of Wholesale immigration should be embarked on by New Zealand at the present time .or in the immediate future is reached, by the committee. It is recommended that any immigration Which is undertaken should be of the selective type. The committee considers that at the moment there is little scope for the absorption of workers in. agriculture and thinks that, taking into account the number of. returned servicemen proposing to enter this type of occupation, New Zealand will itself in fiitiirejprpVide sufficient operatives Adequately to equip the agricultural industry. “The plain facts are that on the present evidence there is less available suitable land on which new agricultural development can take place than is popularly assumed. Undoubtedly farming will become more intensive;, but the experience of the past two decades suggests that mechanical and scientific improvements have been the basis of the greater intensity with which the land is farmed at the present moment, and as a consequence available labour power has a greater output per head than previously.” Second Grade Land. The committee recommends comprehensive investigation of the possibility of using some of the Dominion’s second grade land more intensively, including an inquiry into the possibility of making such land more fertile than it now is. This might involve consderable expenditure for developmental purposes, but if more second grade land were made available for intensive settlement the return to the Dominion as a whole wbuld more than repay the expenditure involved. The committee considers, however, that the shortages in secondary industries, and to a lesser extent in tertiary industries, cannot be made up in the short run from our own population.

“There is a great deal to be said for a carefully planned immigration policy,” the report adds. “By planning we mean that the immigrants should be carefully selected for their occupational aptitudes. It is obvious, for. instance, that we need coalminers, sawmillers and operatives for many of our.growing secondary industries. “We are not in a position to state what numbers are required, but we think this is a matter which should occupy the very close attention of tne National Employment Service m cooperation with the departmen L specifically charged with the supervision of particular activities.” Britain’s Difficulties. The committee says that, if possible, immigrants of British stocx from the British Isles, would prove most satisfactory, but it realises, the grave difficulties facing Great Britain at present. “We are also conscious of the tact that several other countries, including Australia and South Africa are exploring the possibility ol attracting immigrants from Britain. We appreciate the fact that even, if it were possible to bring in immigrants to this country immediately, it may be difficult to find these immigrants in Britain. “We are of the opinion that some exploration should be undertaken of the possibilities of securing immigrants from certain Northern European countries, particularly from Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Holland. Such evidence as is available to us suggests that even from these countries there may be some difficulty in attracting sufficient immigrants to satisfy our demands.

“This whole discussion of immigration, however, is conditioned by the fact that at the moment, grave housing shortages make it impossible to recommend that large-scale immigration should be embarked on immediately. It may be possible to begin at a fairly early date with the immigration of single young men and women, carefully chosen because of their particular qualifications in the industries which are short staffed in the Dominion. Immigration of these smgle people would not create immediately the housing questions which an immigration policy covering, married men with wives and families would do.” The committee adds, however, that the immigration of married persons with families from Britain and Northern Europe should be considered and specific plans should be made foi* their absorption in particular industries. The Government should have long-term plans which it could put into operation at the earliest possible date consistent with the supply oi houses and availability of transport. Decentralisation Favoured.

The report says that some witnesses advocated the bringing to New Zealand of large numbers of war orphans, but the committee had insufficient information to express an opinion on the part New Zealand could play in the absorption of these orphans. The Director of Education had pointed out that the Dominion’s education system was already strained to the limit.

Summing up, the committee states: ‘‘Long-term planning in relation to immigration involves not merely securing immigrants and arrangeinent for their transport to the Dominion and not merely the provision oi houses, but also a definite direction as to industrial development, not merely as to what industrial development is to take place but also as to-where it is to take place. We feel that every stimulus should be given to industry to settle other than in the four mam centres.”