953 D.P.’s AS SETTLERS FOR NEW ZEALAND

Greymouth Evening Star, 3 October 1950, Page 4

953 D.P.’s AS SETTLERS FOR NEW ZEALAND

WELLINGTON, This Day (P.A.).— “The 953 displaced persons due at Wellington in the Hellenic Prince, a former British aircraft-carrier, on October 16, are a relatively young group of new settlers,” said the Minister of Immigration, Mr W. Sullivan today. n „ The ship also carries 20 other immigrants, sponsored by friends and relatives in New Zealand. They are travelling on individual entry permits. , Mr Sullivan said that 48 per cent, of the draft are under 30 years of age, 65 per cent are under 36 years, 88 per cent, under 46 years and 99 per cent are under 56 years.

All Reported Fit All the adults are stated to be fit for employment and the New Zealand medical officer, who was attached to the New Zealand selection mission, reported that he was well satisfied with the physical standard of the draft as a whole. The draft includes 283 single men, 44 single women, 36 widows with one child each, one widow with, three children, 126 married couples with no children, and 19 family groups. There are altogether 156 children in the draft. A number of the married, men have had farming experience and there should be a number of married couples available to satisfy the longfelt need in New Zealand for married couples on farms. There is also a number of building and engineering tradesmen and over 200 single labourers and single farm hands. The remainder of the draft includes a wide variety of occupations. Nearly 200 of the 800 adults already speak at least some English. The draft will receive further instruction at the Pahiatua reception centre before they are dispersed to employment.

Pleasing Fact

Mr Sullivan said a pleasing fact which had come to light during the selection was that many of the refugees who came to New Zealand last year had written back to friends and officials in Europe, saying how happy they were in New Zealand. Not a single complaint had been reported. New Zealand stood high overseas as a country in which to settle and there was keen competition among those remaining in the refugees’ camps to be selected for New Zealand.