SPECIAL MINISTRY

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

SPECIAL MINISTRY

MR HOLLAND’S ADVOCACY TASK OF REHABILITATION WEAKNESSES OF PROPOSED SCHEME (0.C.) WELLINGTON, Oct. 14. A suggestion that the problem of rehabilitation justified the appointment of a separate Ministry was made by the Leader of the Opposition, Mr S. G. Holland, who followed the Minister of Finance. Mr Nash, in the second-reading debate on the Rehabilitation Bill in the of Reoresentatives to-night. Mr Holland, who said that the whole question of repatriation and resettlement of servicemen • and women should be considered on a non-party basis, urged that as far as possible the returned men. both of this war and the last, should be given as prominent a part as possible in future plans brought down under the Bill. “This job should be the task of a Minister who has nothing else to do than plan and administer the schemes of rehabilitation,” Mr Holland said. “It is necessary that he should not be confined to his desk in Wellington, but should go round the country and inspect the fruits of his planning. He should depend on his own observation on the spot, and exercise* his. own power of direction, not leaving it to the "departmental heads. What, is needed is a Minister, preferably an ex-serviceman, whose practical sympathy and advice would be of great value to the men wherever they might be placed.” The former Minister of Public Works. Mr R. Semple, was an illustration of how a practical man who cot round the job mado a success of it by knowing what was going on.

Non-party Committee Urged Mr Holland urged that a non-party Parliamentary committee should go into the problem of rehabilitation and prepare, a scheme for returning exservicemen to civilian life. He instanced the Soil _ Conservation and Rivers Control Bill as a piece of legislation which represented the work of a parliamentary committee which approached the question in a national and not a party spirit, the result being a measure of 169 clauses, all of which were acceptable except one. The same thing should be done about rehabilitation. Better results would accrue than by the method proposed in the Bill. Mr Holland said the whole country w&s united in its desire to see that the returning men and women of. the forces got the best that could be given to them. The only condition the public laid down was that the job should be ‘well done. Rehabilitation was as much a part of the war as the production pf aeroplanes or munitions or the payment of soldiers in the field, and was an essential phase of the war effort. The First Essential

If the problem was tackled wisely the mistakes of the past should be avoided by drawing on experience to the full, he added. After the last war many good things were done, and many ex-servicemen had reason for gratitude. " " T ■ The Minister of Agriculture, Mr J. G. Barclay: Rubbish. Mr Holland; The Minister says ‘ Rubbish,” but he is the only one in the House who will say so. The first essential, Mr Holland continued, was to see that the returning men got justice. It was their due, and something that everyone recognised. Mr F. W. Schramm (Govt., Auckland West): They will see that they get it. Mr Holland said that the provisions of the Bill should not be restricted to servicemen who arrived back “ broke.” That would be unfair to thrifty men. Nothing was more resented by ex-ser-vicemen than patronage or chanty. Nothing tended more towards discontent among ex-soldiers than to have their affairs administered by non-ser-vicemen, and Parliament should p,lace the question of rehabilitation in the hands of ex-servicemen. It was important, he said, that the men, on returning, should be free from dictatorial control and not subject to a body of inspectors. They wanted their chance to start again by developing their own enterprise and industry as free men. They were individualists. They should be informed that there was no short cut to success, and all that Parliament could do was to lend a hand in getting them started. It should be made clear that the Bill was not a substitute for hard work. The men should remain on the service pay roll until they had an opportunity of being absorbed in civil occupations. Camps should be established in all parts of the Dominion of men in trades and professions. Mr J. A. Lee (Democratic Labour, Grey Lynn): Not camps. Mr Holland: Call them what you like. Mr Lee: Call them training centres. Time for Action Mr Holland said he would call the camps vocational centres. Now was the time when instructors, programme and equipment should be ready. Dealing with housing. Mr Holland said the problem had not been solved. The surface was merely scratched, and double the men should be trained. The Minister of Housing, Mr H. T. Armstrong: Where are you going to get the men? Mr Holland; They are coming back now. “ It is to me the most disappointing Bill,” Mr Holland said. After two years of planning, the Bill authorised an undefined Minister to do as he “ jolly well liked ” and it would be in order. Whatever he did and whatever legislation lie passed would be correct. Unlimited power was given to the Minister. He did not think, Mr Holland said, that returned servicemen wanted to be dealt with by a bureaucracy. He urged that servicemen should have increased representation on the council, and he criticised the board as behm just as independent as the Minister would permit it to be. Thirteen of the 19 clauses in part 1 of the Bill provided administrative machinery and had not a scrap of interest to servicemen. _____ Civil Obligations Discussing the clauses. Mr Holland said that no provision was made for the Minister, the board or the council to waive trades union obligations, although servicemen were excepted from civil obligations. That exception was not wanted by the men. He suggested that the clause ->ve the Minister power to override the courts. The very reverse of what was anticipated might happen and credit to former servicemen might be c r amped because of that provision.

Mr Holland concluded by suggesting that a special committee to draft legislation should be set up, including representatives of all sections of the House and of the Returned Soldiers’ Association, manufacturers, employers and unions. “If the Government give us a chance of co-operating, we will contribute our best willingly.” he said.