SECOND READING OF COAL BILL PASSED

Greymouth Evening Star, 18 August 1948, Page 3

SECOND READING OF COAL BILL PASSED

(P.A.) WELLINGTON, August 17. The House of Representatives gave the Coal Bill its second reading this afternoon on a division, won by the Government by 36 votes to 32. It was then referred to the Goldfields and Mines Committee. The Minister of Mines (Mr A. McLagan), continuing his reply to the debate, said that in the last three years the loss of time worked in mines because of industrial disputes amounted to 60,487 days, compared with 195,328 days lost in the last three years under the National Government. Wages and conditions were incomparably better than in previous years, and one would have thought that these improvements would have reduced the amount of time lost, but wages and conditions alone would not end disputes. It would take time to eradicate the legacy bequeathed by previous Governments. Nationalisation of coal measures would, however, help to lessen the time lost in the working of mines. The minister said no privatelyowned coal mine could have shown a profit were it not for the subsidy it received No company was makingprofit equivalent to ‘ths amount of the subsidy it received. The waste of coal and the need to conserve coal measures could not be denied, and the need for better working was admitted by the Opposition.