POST-WAR PLANS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24738, 15 October 1941, Page 6

POST-WAR PLANS

REHABILITATION PERIOD THE GOVERNMENT’S AIMS "NEW ECONOMIC STRUCTURE” (O.C) WELLINGTON. Oct. 14. “The readjustment for war is gradual. but the readjustment for peace, while gradual- at the beginning, will become an avalanche, and unless- wc. are prepared—yes. we are proposing to prepare—we will have troubles greater when the war is over than we are having while the war is taking place,” kaid the Minister of Finance. Mr W. Nash, when moving the second reading of the Rehabilitation Bill in the House of Representatives to-night. The Minister explained the various clauses of the Bill and set out broadly the Government’s repatriation and postwar reconstruction aims. Mr Nash said the war had already . taken out of the normal life of the country something like 80,000 men, and in addition many others had to devote themselves to providing these men with food and equipment. It was accepted in New Zealand that the country should care for the wounded and for the dependents of soldiers who were away. These, however, were just ordinary things that everyone accepted, but the hardest task of all was that for Which the basis.was now being laid down—-the repatriation and rehabilitation, pf the men who had fought so as to Put them as far as humanly possible where they would have been had 'they not gone away. The two general phases of the ; Bill Involved the bringing home and rehabilitation of the men, and reconstruction and expansion in the post-war period, the Minister said. This second Phase was imperative If rehabilitation was to go forward t 1M per cent., and it involved the building of a new economic structure. A hope that the errors of the past would be ayoided was expressed by Mr Nash. He said that those who would be administering the Bill would have the benefit of past experience. Mistakes of the Past An Opposition member: There will he plenty of mistakes. Mr Nash agreed that there would, hut said that whereas those administering repatriation after the last war had. no precedent, this would not be the case this time, and the old mistakes should not be repeated. “We want to find ways and means of- bringing these men after their abnormal experiences back into civil life h« quickly as possible,” he continued. It was accepted that the whole country was responsible for this.—(Cries -of “ Hear, hear.”) Moreover, if it was possible to place them better than those who stayed behind, this would be done. The Minister said that only those who had been away could understand how returned soldiers were handicapped. It was particularly difficult to appreciate this in New Zealand, which was so far away from the scene I Qt conflict, but it was clearly impossible to step overnight from the trenches to everyday life. There was a disinclination to settle down, and he Said he hoped that the provisions of the Bill would give the men a better chance than they had ever had before. The reconstruction aspect was emphasised by Mr Nash. He said it was no use giving a man land or helping him to buy a business without building an economic order in which the work he did ensured him good social and physical results. The Government could lay only the material foundations, but out of them the men themselves could bring things that were worthwhile. Public Works and Housing Mr Nash said that there was provision for the expansion of various public works enterprises. The Government was already considering plans that could legitimately be put into operation, not just to give men work, but to give them useful work. There were two aspects of rehabilitation which he must stress, Mr Nash continued. The first was housing, and the second electrification. Unless the Government and the country took the question of housing in hand very quickly and provided double the number of houses that bad been built recently, there would be real difficulties. There was an imperative need for new houses, and, although there might be difficu&es in obtaining land and material, yet they must still overcome the cruel shortage of homes —a shortage that would get worse. Expansion of Power Supply The potentialities of electrification in New Zealand were greater than in any other country, the Minister said, although it would entail bringing from overseas much costly equipment which in turn would necessitate the building up of funds overseas for its purchase. With electric power there were a halfdozen new industries that could be started in the Dominion, and it was imperative that they should be started. There was not enough room to put all the returned men on the land and to. find a market for their products, and in addition they would have difficulty within a short time of the end of the conflict of finding markets. It was therefore necessary that they should expand their industries. Referring to the establishment of a Rehabilitation Board, Mr Nash said it was proposed to set up an independent board charged with the task of devoting its whole time to the work of rehabilitation. It was not proposed to follow the practice of the last war and set up a multitude of district boards. There would be a planned public - works policy, but it would be a transition stage on the way to putting men into secondary, primary or even tertiary industries. Unlike the period following the last war, disabled men would obtain an economic pension immediately, but the greatest service the country could do them was to put them into work in whole or in part. The Government’s job was centred on reconstruction, and it had to see that the men were put back into work as quickly as possible. Mr Nash said that a clause would probably be added to the Bill to give educational and other benefits to the orphaned children of servicemen, and clause' 6 would probably be altered so as to make three members of the board a quorum, instead of two as at present. He was ’ sure that there was not a member of the House who thought of the implications of the conflict who would not put all his time and thought into getting the men back into industry after the war was over. Mr Nash added. They must build a new world if they were to avoid another war later. “A Blank Cheque ” Mr F.' W. Doidge (Opposition. Tauranga): Are you sure it is only rehabilitation in this Bill? Sweeping powers are being given the Government.

Mr W. S. Goosman (Opposition Waikato): A blank cheque.