BUILDING BOOM

Grey River Argus, 15 October 1936, Page 5

BUILDING BOOM

WORK FOR ALL COMERS Government Housing Schemes (Per Press Association). WELLINGTON. October 14. Asked whether his attenton had been drawn to a statement that the moment that the Giovernment’s housing scheme was started there would be an influx of tradesmen from Australia. am] that steps should be lake to discourage men from coming across ns the building boom was likely to 1 onlv of a temporary character, Mr J A. Lee, the .Member in charge of the Housing Scheme, said: “I th'ink th's statement is the result of a misunderstanding of the Government's ntentions. The Government does not in f.ctnd to engage in a temporary spurt of building activity. We are planning for years ahead. The evidence shows conclusively that there is an acute shortage of houses throughout the Dominion, created as much by ehanginc economic conditions as by tho natural 'increase in population.

“As fami’ios move from sustenance conditions to employment, they move Hmm rooms to homes. The standard of liv’’ng of the people at any g'ven time determines the character of their housing accommodation. “Tho Government’s hous’ng scheme wliJl take up at 1 ! 1 of the available building craftsmen, and the representatives of the trades unions, in our preliminarv talks, have shown a considea-able willingness to meet the MinWtry of Housing in an effort to trali.n those young men whjo had missed their opportunitv during the last four or five years —to such an extent that we can emplav all' of the bu’ld’ng craftsmen, and train our own appront ces, anil in addition, absorb sitii'l furthe' - u" labour by employing building cr'aftsmen from any other Brits' countrv. Tn fact, we wfL l be pleased to utilise their services.

“An influx of building craftsm'T wou'd crea-’e the necessity of buil<lin< r st-Tl more homes. If such craftsmen arp attKicted to New Zealand after al of the 'oral labour has been utilised it -would be the Government's objective to retain them as citizens. Slci'led craftsmen should have no fear as io the permanence of the Govern ment’s policy, and everybody in New Zealand would be gratified if. aftewe have taken in our own slack, we employed others a< welk” Mr Lee sa'kl that a moment’s consideration would show the trc,mendona amount of construction activity that is to be engaged in in future. For years, the New Zealand cities had expanded hcalthfu'ly at their fringe but notlrng had been done to remove the rottenness at the core. Slum clear ances must einovjl-ably succeed Uv .successful building scheme, he sn so that fear as to 'thei future of building employment, once the scheme, gets under wav, should be disc,minted. Mr Lee reiterated the friendliness of the trades union organisations during the building d'seuss,ions, and hoped that those friendly relations would continue.