DOMINION HOUSE RENTS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19882, 8 March 1939, Page 5

DOMINION HOUSE RENTS

STATE BUILDING PLAN MELBOURNE EXPLANATION (Reed. March 8, 9 a.m.) MELBOURNE, March 8. About 110 building artisans applied yesterday to Mr. J. Hodgens, M.P., for work in New Zealand. Mr. Hodgens spent four hours interviewing the men. Replying to a letter sent from Wellington: to the Melbourne Herald by a former resident of Melbourne warning tradesmen against the living costs in New Zealand 1 andi stating that the rent of a four-roomed old wooden house in Wellington would be at least £3 a week, Mr. Hodgens said that the problem referred to was one created in a capitalistic society whenever capitalism took advantage of a housing shortage. He said that the New Zealand Government was building houses to let at 25s Cd to 27s 6d weekly. The figure of £3 mentioned by the correspondent could only refer to the most modern type of house. Replying to another correspondent who said that New Zealand had nine months of winter, Mr. Hodgens said that Auckland had a more temperate and 1 pleasant climate than any Australian city. Other New Zealand towns had 1 more hours of sunshine annually than Melbourne. The Victorian Employers’ Federation says it is receiving many letters from New Zealand regarding high taxation and the high cost of living, and board and lodging difficulty and also the difficulty of sending money out of the Dominion. A letter from a New Zealand builder says that the Government has many skilled building tradesmen in public works camps. The writer says that if the Australian Government advertised in New Zealand for skilled workers there would be an immediate response by 500 tradesmen.