N.Z. MINISTRY OF WORKS

Grey River Argus, 14 May 1943, Page 4

N.Z. MINISTRY OF WORKS

PORTFOLIOS COMBINED.

P.A. WELLINGTON, May 13. The functions exercised by the Minister of Public Works and the- Minister of Housing Construction have been combined and now come under single Ministerial control, said the Prime Minister (Mr. Fraser) to-night, referring to a recent announcement that Mr. Semple had been appointed Minister of Works. Mr. Fraser added that the work of the Defence Construction Council would also be ababsorbed in the general construction programme of the Ministry! of Works. This Council had achieved its object of accelerating the progress on vital Armed Services within the Dominion and in the Pacific, it was the desire of the Government that the remainder of the programme should now revert. to Ministerial control for the purpose of co-ordinating that programme with other forms of constructional activity that lay immediately ahead.

Though an example of co-ordinated effort it was a testimony to the ability of the Government’s constructional departments and to the various employers and workmen concerned. Mr. Fraser also paid a tribute to the drive and capacity for organisation of the Defence Construction Commissioner (Mr. Fletcher).