In the News

Southland Times, Issue 25502, 24 October 1944, Page 4

In the News

Defaulters as Carpenters “Military defaulters are building houses on a farm development ares near Rotorua,” said the Minister ol Rehabilitation, Mr Skinner, last evening. The defaulters had already built nine homes and had five more tc build. When asked if the defaulters liked the work, the Minister replied: “It doesn’t matter what they like. Thej will be doing what they are told for c year or two yet.” Outlook for Wool When he was questioned at his meeting at Winton last night about the outlook for wool Mr S. G. Holland; Leadei of the Opposition, said ■ he was not i pessimist, but the outlook was no: nearly so bright as he would like. H< understood that there were 12,000,00( bales of wool held in the British Empire. He did not know what ths Government was doing to deal with ths situation. House Every 45 Minutes One house ready for letting wa: handed over to the State Housing Department every 45 minutes of the working day, said the Minister of Rehabilitation, Mr Skinner, in an electior. address last evening. He was speaking of the great demand for houses in ths country and said that more than 300( houses were under’construction at ths present time. More than 30,000 person; had applied for State houses, including 4000 returned men. In recent visits tc Great Britain and Australia, Mr Skinner said, he had not seen a single house being built. Questions Answered What must be almost a record number of questions for a Minister were answered by the Minister in Charge of Rehabilitation, Mr Skinner, last evening at West Plains. The chairman of the meeting, Mr lan Wills, asked the majority of the questions, which covered many subjects, ranging from the country quota to the subsidy on miners’ tools. Mr Skinner made an attempt to answer all the questions asked by Mr Wills and others present, and the members of thq audience who did not ask questions followed the arguments with keen interest. Mr Skinner was more than once applauded for his frankness. Question time extended the meeting by at least an hour. Fire at Mataura

An outbreak of fire in the roof of the cooling chamber of the Southland Frozen Meat Company’s, works at Mataura was extinguished last night before it did much'damage. Five Invercargill residents returning from Gore about 8.25 p.m. noticed a fire smouldering in the roof. They drove into Mataura and asked the first man they saw to advise the brigade, but their story apparently lacked conviction, as nothing was done until the motorists, who had driven back to the works, returned to Mataura with the information that the fire was beginning to spread. About half an hour after the first person had been informed of the outbreak the fire bell was rung. The brigade was soon at the works and the fire, which, although small, was, making headway, was quickly extinguished. It is thought that'sparks from a passing railway engine had lodged in the roof. Respect for Parliament “Parliament does not hold the respect of the community that I wish it did. 1 believe that Parliament in the future should enjoy a higher standard of public respect than it has at present,” said Mr S. G. Holland, Leader of the - Opposition, in his address at Winton last night. “The community should see that the best men are returned to Parliament and they should be better paid. At present they are shockingly underpaid—£4so a year for an ordinary member. On that he has to keep two homes going, meet his travelling expenses and support every bowling and hop scotch club for 200 miles around. I would pay higher salaries to members of Parliament by reducing useless expenditure. Ido not ( know of any useful work the Legislative Council has done. If we send men there as a reward for past services then we should be honest about it and pension them off.”