NEW MINISTERS WANTED

Southland Times, Issue 24152, 14 June 1940, Page 6

NEW MINISTERS WANTED

RETURNED SOLDIERS IN CABINET MR LEE APPEALS FOR CHANGES (From Our Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON, June 13. An appeal for Ministers of Defence and Man Power “who look, talk and think like returned soldiers” was made by Mr J. A. Lee (Dem. Lab., Grey Lynn) during the Address-m-Reply debate in the House of Representatives tonight when he advanced suggestions for a more efficient prosecution of the Dominion’s war effort. Mr Lee received an attentive hearing and was granted an extension of time. “Get a Minister of Defence who sounds like a soldier,” Mr Lee said. He knew that the Minister of Defence had the best will in the world and was putting the whole of his energy into the., business, and he knew that the Minister of Public Works, who had just become almost Minister of Man Power, had considerable persuasive ability, but he suggested that the Government should get Ministers of Defence and Man Power who looked, talked and thought like returned soldiers and who sounded as though they had a background calculated to rally men. “Get somebody in charge of the Publicity Department who knows the background of a soldier’s life,” Mr Lee continued. “Our publicity does not exist today. It is only negative. Our pub-

licity consists of suppressing and censoring to a far greater degree than is necessary. Wanted, a Minister of Propaganda, a Minister of Defence who looks like a Minister of Defence, and a Ministei- of Man Power who talks in the terms that the soldier understands.” Later in his address, when referring to the war effort in general terms, Mr Lee said, “Except that they have served, I defy men to stand on the platform and inspire other men. No matter how sincere they are the question poises itself on the lip of everyone: ‘What did you do in the Great War?’ ” PURCHASE OF GOLD Mr Lee suggested that the Government should buy all the manufactured gold in New Zealand including wed-ding-rings and trinkets, offering the best possible prices so that the money realized could be used to buy aeroplanes to help save the lives of Britons. He proposed that the Government should take over all foreign investments and said that nobody was guilty of more subversive conduct than the person who, on eve of war, transferred from New Zealand thousands of pounds and who was now sitting on these investments. “Conscript the banks and avoid piling up debt instead of conscripting men and leaving the banks in private hands,” Mr Lee added. He proposed that the Government should turn its rationalization proposals to insurance and that it should also take steps to see that the cost of living was kept in check. In addition it should avoid creating anti-radical hunts and guard against the danger of calling every radical subversive. A final proposal was that New Zealand should offer hospitality to 20,000 children from Britain.

“We want no defeatism,” Mr Lee concluded. “Let nobody use the words ‘lf we are defeated.’ We are not going to be defeated—that is the line.”