LABOUR PARTY’S POLICY

Southland Times, Issue 25504, 26 October 1944, Page 3

LABOUR PARTY’S POLICY

Candidate Reviews Achievements

His philosophy was ‘‘Service before Self” and if elected *he would never let the electors down, said Mr Leo S. O’Sullivan, the official Labour candidate in the Awarua by-election, speaking at Mokotua last night. He was resigning from school teaching and he would be on the job 24 hours out of the 24. He was getting nothing out of it; nothing whatever, and if elected he would be making a sacrifice financially. There was a good attendance at the meeting. At the end of Mr O’Sullivan’s address a motion of thanks and confidence moved by Mr A. Nichol and seconded by Mr H. Scott was carried by acclamation. Mr James Thorn, M.P., Parliamentary Under-Secretary, supported Mr O’Sullivan. Mr O’Sullivann paid a tribute to the memory of Brigadier James Hargest. Brigadier Hargest had been one of his personal friends and he had had the privilege of teaching three of his children. Brigadier Hargest had been a great patriot. He had died for his country. , No man could do more. Mr O’Sullivan said his father had had one of the largest dairy farms in, Taranaki. At school the speaker had been taught dairy science. He had had a wide experience of farming. He had attended the Otago University and had later decided to become a teacher. He had attended the training college at Dunedin. He had a family of four and his eldest son, now only 20 years of age, was serving in Italy. INTEREST IN EDUCATION Being a teacher he had a great interest in education, said Mr O’Sullivan. Before Labour assumed office in 1935 two training colleges had been closed down and education was in a bad Way. Schools and school houses were in a bad state of repair. The Labour Government reopened the training colleges and embarked on a progressive educational policy. Tire education vote in 1933-34 had been £2,749,434; Labour increased this vote to £5,225,009 in 1943-44. Labour safeguarded the children’s education all along. A duty at present imposed on all teachers was to watch the health of the children, he said. This was done. The Government had set up health camps, and if it was thought necessary a child was sent to a health camp for a period. That was a wonderful thing done by Labour. The Government had rebuilt and remodelled 400 schools and had. enlarged playgrounds. Parks had been taken over for the use of the city schools and that was a wonderful thing in the cities. The reintroduction of the five-year-old school entrance age had been a wonderful thing. Boarding allowances had also been introduced. If a parent wanted to board a child an allowance of 10/- was made. That represented a fair difference of the cost of having the child at home and of having it away from home. Under the previous Government the boarding allowance in 1932 had been 5/—, but it had been for primary school children only. Then it was taken away, but was later reinstated. Now it was possible for all post-primary children to receive boarding allowances if necessary. Labour had introduced school buses. In 1938-39 it had spent £11,937 on the school buses scheme, in addition to paying private operators. The Education I Department owned 90 buses. Railway travelling allowances for children had also been brought in and, in fact, everything possible done for the child. A total of £36,800,000 had been spent on education since Labour took office. The policy today was free education from the kindergarten to the university. They would have more kindergartens and have them free. They were modernizing all school buildings, equipment and facilities. BURSARIES FOR STUDENTS Mr O’Sullivan said that bursaries were also available for a student who wanted to go on to the university. They intended to increase the medical clinics and health camps. The aim was to nip all complaints in the bud. Another great boon under Labour had been the abolition of most examinations. Dental clinics too were being increased. When Labour took office 214 dental nurses or students were in training; now there were 551 dental nurses and students. There were 387 dental clinics for 2120 schools. Last year 146,000 pupils had been treated and there had been 200,000 dental operations in the State clinics. Labour had provided health camps, free milk and free apples in season. Eighty-four per cent, of the school children in New Zealand received free milk each day. That was a great thing and did a lot to safeguard the health of the children.

Mr O’Sullivan spoke about farming and said that he had learned dairy science as a science. When he came to Southland he had demonstrated at the Technical College on Saturday mornings to teachers. He had also been the W.E.A. rural lecturer on rural finance. He had specialized on rural topics and he knew all about farming. He understood farming. He had taught dairy science at the Wyndham District High School. Farmers were better off under the guaranteed price. They all knew' that and there was no need fort him to enlarge on it. Today production was encouraged. The cheese producer received 20 per cent, above the prewar price, 45 per cent, above the 1936 guaranteed price and 125 per cent, above the 1934 price. The 1934 price had been 9Jd. The 1944 price was 21ad. Mr O’Sullivan gave an outline of his suggestion for a veterinary system and said that 140 to 160 veterinary surgeons were required in New Zealand. Today there was only about 40. Central laboratories were also required. MEDICAL BENEFITS Speaking of the medical benefits introduced by Labour, Mr O’Sullivan said that anyone with common sense realized that one of the greatest acts ever introduced was social security. An important thing about medical benefits today was that there was no mileage charge. A voice: They won’t charge you because they won’t come out to you. Mr O’Sullivan said that the nearest doctor must be called. Unless the doctor had a pretty good excuse he was in danger of being struck off the register if he did not answer a call. The voice: Well, they won’t come.

Mr O’Sullivan advised the interjector to report the matter and see'what happened. In 1935 skilled men were chipping weeds on the roadside, said Mr O’Sullivan. They had a terrible existence. They could have been given work. What had happened when Labour came into power? These men were put into work and wages were increased. A voice: And they put up the taxes. , Continuing, Mr O’Sullivan said that Labour had embarked on a housing scheme and by 1941 16,000 State houses had been built. Labour's policy was useful work; not useless work as in the past. Today in the Hutt Valley alone one house was passed over to the State Advances Department every 45 minutes. They. did not see that broadcast in the Press. In the next five years £97,000,000 would be spent by the Government on housing. A voice: Where are you going to get that from?

The equivalent of 17 towns with a population of 7000 people each had been built by Labour since it came into power. And yet it was said that they did not do anything. ■ Mr O’Sullivan spoke of the Government’s rural housing scheme and gave

a full outline of the scheme. He spoke also of rehabilitation, hydro-electric expansion, which meant more industries, roading and afforestation.