The Gisborne Herald. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED “THE TIMES.” GISBORNE, SATURDAY, JULY 27, 1940. PUBLIC WORKS ACTIVITY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20310, 27 July 1940, Page 6

The Gisborne Herald. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED “THE TIMES.” GISBORNE, SATURDAY, JULY 27, 1940. PUBLIC WORKS ACTIVITY

Neither the public works statement itself nor the reply of the Minister to the debate on it has provided any reasonable excuse for the enormous expenditure that is contemplated this year. Indeed, the leaders of the Government are equivocal and contradict one another in their attempt to justify the decision to spend more than £20,000,000 on public works at a time when the country is. at war. Instead of the war being regarded as a reason for deferring unnecessary public works many attempts have been made to suggest that most of the proposed expenditure is necessitated by defence considerations, but a moment’s examination of the various votes will show that this view is untenable. The fact is that the Government, under pressure from its supporters, has decided that the war shall not be permitted to interfere with its normal activities and so the profligate expenditure goes on. In 193 G-37 the public works vote was under £lO,500,000 and it is surely not too much to suggest that in the present circumstances it could again be reduced to this level without inflicting hardship on anybody. If it cannot be reduced below this year’s “essential minimum” of more than £20,000,000 what are the prospects for the future? Is it seriously suggested that a small country like New Zealand can continue indefinitely to spend this huge sum annually on activities which, in the main, are of a non-productive character?

In his statement, the Minister says that this year’s programme has eliminated all but essential activities and projects which are nearing completion, but he issues a warning that the latter may have to be curtailed unless sufficient man-power is available. Presumably the Minister is in a position to state the policy of the Government in regard to his own department,’ yet he is flatly contradicted by the Minister of Finance and the Prime Minister. During the Budget debate, Mr. Nash said that the main consideration in allocating such a large sum to public works was the provision of employment for men who would otherwise be out of work. Mr. Semple says that the completion of certain works depends upon labour being available. When it was suggested in the House yesterday that the Government should revise the estimates, Mr. Fraser interjected that this would bring back unemployment. If, when there are 40,000 men in uniform and there are 250,000 others employed in the public service or receiving State sustenance, it is still necessary to spend £20,000,000 to provide employment on public works’ then surely there must be something wrong with the whole economy of the Dominion. By implication, Mr. Fraser admits that the problem of finding employment is worse in New Zealand to-day than at any time in the past and this notwithstanding the fact that the country has just experienced four record export years.

As to the contemplated works that could be deferred, they are legion. While the war is on, for instance, there is not the slightest excuse for continuing the policy of erecting palatial Government buildings. Whatever the condition of the present broadcasting studios in Auckland, they surely cannot be so bad that they could not be endured for another year or two. ' If the worst came to the worst, it would be no grave loss to the Dominion, and certainly no handicap to its war effort, if one of the three Auckland radio stations closed

down for a year or more. It was mentioned in the House yesterday that a report in 1936 stated that the Auckland markets were the best in New Zealand; yet it is now considered necessary for the Government to spend £IOO,OOO on new markets for a newly-created State department. Another Minister says it is essential that there should be new Government printing works. Surely, for the duration of the war Government printing could be curtailed or else distributed among other factories. It is proposed to proceed with the erection of thousands more State houses, yet contractors cannot obtain the labour required to provide accommodation for the men who are engaged on defence services. The Government building programme, in particular, is definitely handicapping the war effort and it certainly is not needed to provide employment. An examination of the many other votes would also indicate where economies could be effected and there would be no public outcry if such a step were taken as a war measure. This district has probably been the worst served with public works of any in New Zealand but if the Government decided, in the interests of the war effort, to make a further curtailment there would not be a single voice raised in opposition—provided, of course, other parts of the Dominion were treated in the same way. Even suspension of works on the railway, for which the public has waited so patiently, would be accepted if it were shown that such action would assist in the prosecution of the war. This district is not peculiar in this respect and at a time when the need for sacrifice is being so much stressed there is no part of the country which would not willingly sacrifice a large proportion of the proposed expenditure on public works, particularly when it is realised that the need for individual sacrifice would be less if only the Government itself would economise. There is much truth in the statement that the Government, by its present policy, is heading for a major postwar depression for nothing is more certain than that it cannot continue the present rate of civil and war expenditure and still be in a position to face the task of rehabilitation when the war is over.