ANOTHER ATTACK

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22983, 10 March 1938, Page 17

ANOTHER ATTACK

LACK OF INFORMATION CLAIMS NOT JUSTIFIED PROSPECTS OF INDUSTRY [BY TELEGRAFH —SPECIAL REPORTER] WELLINGTON, Wednesday "The major issue at stake is whether this proposed iron and steel industry can be put on such a basis that it can compete with Broken Hill in Australia," said Mr. W. A. Bodkin (Opposition—Central Otago), during the debate on the Iron and Steel Industry Bill in the House of Representatives to-day. The Minister of Industries and Commerce, the Hon. D. G. Sullivan, and the Minister of Finance, the Hon. W. Nash, were criticised by Mr. Bodkin for failing to supply the House and the country with data sufficient to justify their claims for the ultimate success of the proposed venture. Of all members of the Cabinet, he said, the Minister of Finance could be expected to give a full statement of the position. He must have examined the situation, and the people of the Dominion were entitled to hear the full facts and figures on which the Government based its decision. Need ot Industry Questioned "One can look in vain for any information on which the country itself could determine whether the scheme is sound," Mr. Bodkin said. "The Minister of Finance has stated that the establishment of this industry is vital to the country's industrial future, but he has not justified that claim. "The same thing could be said about rubber and oil. The Minister could claim that the establishment of a rubber industry here is vital, but a number of the great industrial countries of the world have expanded without having had to establish key industries such as this. A Test Stated "The test is whether the secondary industries of the Dominion can get unlimited supplies of iron and steel. There is no doubt that they can. Broken Hill can supply all the requirements for many years to come. I feel that this new venture will be a drag oil our secondary industries, and not a help." Mr. Bodkin also claimed that the Opposition was entitled to know the rate of interest that would be charged on the money used by the Government to establish the industry and the source of the money as well. He criticised the forfeiture provision of the bill as it relates to existing mining privileges, claiming that the Government was takng advantage of a technical forfeiture, in the commission of which it had been more or less a partner.