REHABILITATION

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 53, Issue 32513, 6 December 1944, Page 5

REHABILITATION

MORE PROGRESS WANTED ADDRESS IN THE HOUSE SPEECH BY MR SUTHERLAND The all embracing nature of the task of rehabilitation was stressed by Mr A. S. Sutherland (National, Hauraki), when speaking on the Rehabilitation Amendment Bill in the House of Representatives.

■ In Hauraki.. he said, the first rehabilitation committee was set. up in Morrinsville. It consisted of seven members representing a good crosssection of the community, and the work was proceeding well. The members were of different shades of political opinion , but that did; not influence the work which proceeded amicably. Recently the minister was good enough to setup a sub-farming committee to deal with farming matters in. the centre, and that, too, was. functioning well. The committee had more applications to go on the land than in many large centres, and that fact influenced the ' inister in the setting up of a special land committee. There was also a committee at the Ngatea centre in the Hauraki Plains, and' it was beginning to function now. Mr Sutherland said' he anticipated splendind achievements there .

Loans for Furniture

Mr Sutherland, suggested that the loan for furniture should! be increased from £lOO to £2OO, as very little furniture could be purchased for £lOO. It was; desirable, to get the servicemen ■settled into'" ’ their .homes as quickly as possible, and £2OO for furniture .would assist in that direction.

The Leader of the Opposition (Mr S. G. Holland); “There should foe no sales tax included in the price of the furniture.”

Mr Sutherland; “That is so, and the sales tax should be removed from the cost of soldiers homes. I would like to see increased fom £5OO to £lOOO the amount of loans available for the purchase of 'businesses. It is difficult to purchase a business for less than £lOOO. I trust that the Minister will consider that suggestion.” Question of Housing

Mr Sutherland said that one of the most vital questions 'affecting rehabilitation was that of housing. The position was very acute, there being thousands of servicemen and servicemen’s wives waiting for homes. He suggested that many of the carpenters now sationed at various military camps could be taken and put on house 'building. A general survey should be made of all tradesmen at present in the camps with a view to putting them on to that Vital activity. The Government decried private enterprise. It had been stated that there was a shortage of timber, but there was any amount of cement and plenty of shingle and sand, and bricks Why not build brick houses? Opening of Land Mr Sutherland welcomed decentralisation, and said that when the scheme was working the minister should set up an office in Hamilton, where there was a great deal of rehabilitation work to be done. Mr Sutherland said he felt that not much progress was being made in connection with land settlement. There were large blocks of Crown land on which very little had been done. New homes had to be built as well as farm buildings, and a certain amount of reading, in some cases, had to be done. That should be pushed l on with. The national debt had increased, and it was necessary to get more production, which could not be obtained while the government just went round buying one settler out to put a soldier on. More land' must be put into production, and he hoped that the Minister would get on with the cutting upof these blocks. In the north, especially, there was much crown land awaiting development. Good Land on Plains Mr Sutherland said there was first class land in his electorate ready for soldier settlement, and when he took the Minister up there he was very impressed. The land was close to roads, schools and electric power, and a new railway would go right through the middle 'of it. The State was farming it, and the Crown did not like to give, un State farms. He “ft’ hoped those blocks would be cut up and made available for return-

ed soldiers. Mr Sutherland said he was in favour of a reduction of interest rates, though he did not say that soldiers should have interest-free money. They might have reniissions occasionally to help them o"sgr difficult periods, but they should not have to pay more than two per cent, for the first five years,

and three per cent, for the second period, when the situations could be reviewed;., Mr Sutherland also thought that the minister might accept some of the resolutions of the Returned Services Association. Prices of Land

He also considered that if the price of the property held by the crown tenant was reduced by the . Land Board he should have the option to appeal to a higher authority. That was reasonable, and he hoped the minister would give that consideration.

Mr Sutherland again stresed the necessity for opening up more Crown lands. There was a possibility of fertilisers being a little more plentiful, and group settlement for returned' soldiers could not be improved upon. There were plenty of blocks available. There was plenty of land at Galatea, and he had mentioned areas in the Hauraki district. Then there were blocks at Rotorua and right through to Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty that would make fine settlement areas. When the returned soldiers were grouped on a block of land they worked better; one settler assisted the other, the weak assisting the strong. He hoped the minister would give that matter early consideration, and put a bit more life into Crown settlement operations.