HOUSING SHORTAGE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 09, Issue 21, 6 November 1945, Page 6

HOUSING SHORTAGE

COMBINED EFFORT NEEDED MR W. SULLIVAN'S VIJSWS The importance of bousing, and the necessity of tackling the prob--lam in an adequate manner were emphasised by Mr W. Sullivan (Na. Bay of Plenty) when .speaking in the Budget debate in the House of Representatives'. "We have reached a stage when we have to get and the Minister of Works will agree with me," said Mr Sulli. van. The housing problem had become a really social and it was too big for the Government tc handle. It had already failed in handling it. During the alLin wai effort the Opposition and the. Government were able to work togethei reasonably well f and could they not work reasonably well and overcomt the problem of housing? In the Budget £5 } 500,000 was provided foi bousing. Last year the amount waj £4^500, } 000. According to his figures said Mr Sullivan } the £5 ? 500, 000 thi. year would provide something lik< 3400 houses; but if 8000 or 10 001 houses were to be built this yea where was the Minister of Financ going to get the balance of th money? Was he going to issue i through the Reserve Bank and agra vate the situation that existed to day by a further period of inflatioi and still higher costs? . Mr Sullivan said be wanted to dea with the problems associated wit! the industry and try to find ou what was, holding progress up. Om of the chief things was. the supply of a sufficient quantity of timber and he wondered if the Commis sioner of State Forests was making every effort to give the building in dustry the supply that was so badb needed. Tlie report of the State. For ests Service indicated that the in dustry was not getting the from the Government that it was en titled to. The timber industry hac been under the control of the. Gov ernment since 1936 and over thai long period it had gone from bac to worse, until today certain mill; were on the verge of bankruptcy. About 40 per cent of the timbei industry was uneconomic and mills were closing down. Mr Sullivan saic the Government should look into th( position immediately. "I want tc impress upon the Government thai it is not a question of trying tc put up a case for the industry foi it to get undeserved 'profits or pro. fits to which it is by no means .enhe said. "It is a questior of helping to solve the housing prob. lem. That is what we have to fact up to." According to the Directoi of Forestry, there were 450 j OO0 > 00C feet of timber a year to meet re ; quirements. Last year's, cutting amounted to 350,000,000 feet. "Then we dropped back fe.et_ and unless the position is; corrected we will drop below 300 # 000,000 feet for the current said Mr Sulli. van. "So serious is the situation that it should be dealt with without any undue delay." The rot had set in s he said f and over the last nine months the situation had been brought to the notice of the Govbut the Government had failed to deal with the matter. A miller might be able to get a bush containing eight million to ten million. feet of timber. Under present. day conditions the miller would have to erect a sawmill and provide suitable accommodatin in order that lie might attract staff,in that area. It Avould be called a small mill. Would the Government meet the miller by giving some sort of financial assistance in order that he migln start cutting in the area? Repay, ment could be spread over a period of live or tea years. It was well known in the industry that since 1939 the Government had allowed the millers an increase of 19 per cent in the price of timber generally, and out of that 19 per cent the millers had only been allowed to retain 3d per hundred for them, selves. The balance had been paid out in increased costs and in better conditions, or in respect of other costs that the miller hacl had tc bear. When the Government reviewed the situation he wulcl like like it to take into consideration the question of removing the 10 per cent sales tax on timber. Mr Sulli. van said h© did not know whether that would be sufficient to satisfy the industry wholly but gene rail jspcaking 3 if the sales' tax were taken

off timber immediately 'it would help to revive the industry and heir: to build up the supply. The. timber industry hael not hael an opportunity to recover its costs. Those costs had gone, ahead much faster than any price allowance granted by the Government till today the stage hael been reached when the Director of Forestry reported that a great per. jcentage of the industry was virtually bankrupt or on the borderline of insolvency. How coulel houses be built withut material? That was the position the country was in to. day. Mr Sullivan asked what was the Government going to do to overcome the shortage of roofing mater, ials. He hael been informed that ai application by a company to erect works in Wellington made 12 months or two years ago hael not been eleal with satisfactorily. Had the Government made any attempt to gel roofing iron from the United King, dom or 'Australia? Cement and othci building materials were dealt wit! by Mr Sullivan who also stresses the increascel costs on building materials in recent periods. The Na. tional Party would see that houses were provided anel thai every man who elesired to own his home woulel have an opportunity of doing so. They believed in having a nation of house owners, not a nation of State tenants.