DEVELOPMENT OF INDUSTRIES

Southland Times, Issue 24420, 28 April 1941, Page 6

DEVELOPMENT OF INDUSTRIES

PLANNING FOR PERIOD OF RECONSTRUCTION

(P.A.) CHRISTCHURCH. April 26. “Although the major portion of our time and expenditure of energy is directed at the moment to the prosecution of the war the Government is even now taking steps to plan for the period of reconstruction that will come when victory is achieved. A Cabinet committee and a committee of the heads of departments are both giving much thought to this vitally important issue,” said the Minister of Supply (the Hon. D. G. Sullivan) today.

“Plans are in preparation for the establishment of several large and important industries. The utilization of our own wood-pulp for the manufacture of paper, for example, will be one of these. This activity will have a widespread influence, because it will provide work for bushmen, saw mills and reafforestation in addition to the operatives required for producing the paper. We have, in one year, established the growing of linen flax and I envisage the time when we may well produce some of our own varieties of linen. “In the meantime, our activities with linen flax are all directed to assisting the Motherland, but sight is not being lost of the post-war potentialities of the industry. Steady progress is being maintained in the rehabilitation of our phormium tenax industry and in the manufacture of woolpacks. Here, too, our plans embrace still further development, and I have already had discussions with representatives of the Australian Government regarding the possible export of woolpacks. We have established new records in quantity of tobacco grown and I am sure we will be able to produce more and more of our own requirements in this direction. For some time I have been giving much attention to the establishing of a sugar beet industry and the possibility is that we will undertake this also. We are already manufacturing very good cycle tyres and tubes and there is no reason to doubt that the manufacture of heavier types of -tyres will be undertaken. It is included on our list.

“One important thing is to ensure that there will be jobs for the men when they return and that opportunities for rehabilitation are sufficiently widespread to cover most of the requirements,” he concluded.