MINISTERIAL TOUR

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19375, 13 July 1937, Page 4

MINISTERIAL TOUR

LABOUR ABSORPTION BAY OF PLENTY SCHEMES JION. P. <J. WEBB’S VISIT CONFERENCE AT lUTATORTA To the numerous visits of members of the Cabinet paid to the Bay of Plenty electorate during the past few months is to be added another, lor according to information received by .Mr. A. G. Hultquist, M.P., the Hon. P. C. Webb is to tour the electorate next week. The object of the visit is to discuss with local bodies the various means of absorbing labour during the winter and spring, with a view to carrying casual workers over into the new season without increasing materially the unemployment registrations.

During the temporary absence of the Hon. R. Semple in Australia, Mr. Webb is carrying the additional responsibility ol' the Public Works portfolio, as well as his Mines and Labour portfolios, his time being fully occupied with the calls of the respective departments. For this reason, it is considered especially interesting to the Bay of Plenty electorate that he should have found the opportunity to plan his visit at this time. It is primarily as Minister of Labour that he will visit the district.

No provision is made in the Minister’s itinerary for meeting the Cook and Waikohu county councils, Mr. Webb having met these local bodies, together with the Gisborne Borough Council, some weeks ago. Short Slay in Gisborne The Minister will arrive in Gisborne from Opotiki on July 21, and after lunching in town will proceed to the East Coast, to confer with delegations from the Matakaoa, Waiapu and Uawa County Councils at Ruatoria. The meetings will be held in the lounge of the Manutahi Hotel, and an offer will be made by the Minister on behalf of the Government to pay the wages in full or in part, of a limited number of men for district works, providing the county councils will rurnish supervision.

It is understood that the period of employment will be four months, or for such other period as may be agreed upon between the Minister and the local bodies interested. There are not many European unemployed on the Coast, but the offer is one that should be given close consideration by the different county authorities.

A condition of the offer will be that men who are in the employment of the councils, or have been so employed on a more or less permanent basis, shall continue to be so employed, and that acceptance of the Government’s assistance will apply only to new men.

To Meet Farm Labour Demand

The Government’s plan is to release the men so employed at a later date, to satisfy the demand for farm labour when the new season creates a market for their labour.

Mr. Hultquist arranged the tour of Mr. Webb when he visited Wellington last week, and will accompany the Minister' during his movements through the Bay of Plenty electorate. The party will include also Messrs. J. S. Hunter and Walter Bromley, and Mr. Kemp, private secretary to the Minister. The party will spend the night of July 21 in Ruatoria, and will leave the Coast on the morning of July 22 for Napier. Details of the itinerary have been arranged as under:— Monday, July 19. —Party will leave Rotorua for Tauranga, where Mr. C. H. Burnett, M.P., will meet the Minister and sponsor his meeting with public bodies the rtf. Tuesday, July 20.—Leave Tauranga 9 a.m., lunch at Whakatane, and meet the Whakatane Borough Council and County Council representatives in the County Chambers; leave Whakatane at 4 p.m. for Opotiki, to meet local body representatives at the Opotiki County chambers at 7.30 p.m.; the Minister will meet the Opotiki branch of the Labour Party at a social later in the evening.

Wednesday, July 21. —Leave Opotiki for Gisborne, 9 a.m., lunching in Gisborne and continuing the journey to Ruatoria in the afternoon, to meet East Coast local bodies at 7.30 p.m. at the Manutahi Hotel, Ruatoria.

Thursday, July 22.—Leave Ruatoria for Napier, dealing with urgent business on route, as may be necessary.