Minister Defines Reserved Occupation Position

Northern Advocate, 12 April 1940, Page 2

Minister Defines Reserved Occupation Position

WELLINGTON, This Day. A definition of the position regarding reserved occupations in respect of military service was given by the Minister for Supply (Mr Sullivan), at the meeting of the National Recruiting Council yesterday. More than 1200 civil servants had gone with the First Echelon, said Mr Sullivan.a and he understood pi'oportionate numbers would be included in subsequent drafts. That showed that public servants who were anxious to serve were being liberated. No Man Indispensable. There were actually no reserve occupations, said Mr Sullivan. There were some persons who had been regarded as indispensable, and who had been asked to remain in their occupations in the meantime, but even there the Government’s attitude was that no man was to be regarded as finally indispensable, and that the first consideration was to be the filling of the army. Replacements Must Be Trained. The Government’s view was that the employer must train a man to replace one who was in a key position, and who desired to enlist. If a key man really could not properly be replaced within a reasonable period, he would have to be retained. The Government was doing its very best to meet the requirements of the army and of industry as a whole.