CRITICISM ANSWERED

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 54, 25 November 1946, Page 5

CRITICISM ANSWERED

-"MR R. BOORD’S FINAL ADDRESS

LABOUR’S RECORD PRAISED

• GATHERING IN WHAKATANE

Mr R. Boord, Labour candidate for the Bay of Plenty electorate, addressed a gathering of 120 electors in the King Street Hall last Saturday evening and was given an attentive and on the whole, sympathetic hearing. The meeting was orderly though not as quiet as its forerunner three weeks ago. Isolated interjections made it obvious that an element of opposition was present and occasional applause at the mention of National candidates was a further indication. A number of questions were likewise asked at the conclusion of the address and a motion of thanks and confidence in his candidature and the Labour Government was carried without dissent.

Mr Boord'who was introduced by 'the Mayor, Mr B. S. Barry, who once again presided was quickly at grips with his subject. He did not, he said, propose to • propound the policy of the Labour Party, but would confine his remarks to replying to the allegations and misrepre.senatives of Labour’s opponents. It had to be recognised that Labour had abolished unemployment for the first time in the history. It had made for a decent wage level for all workers; it had established a magnificent Social Security scheme, the envy of the world, and finally had made for general prosperity throughout the land. People were better clothed and fed than ever before. The guaranteed price had brought to the farmer a secured income and a secured tenure of his land. Mortgages were being paid off more than ever before and farm bankruptcy had practically ceased. Although the National Party had to recognise these facts it still alleged that Labour was ruining the farmer. r

Both the Leader of the Opposition and his own particular opponent had maintained that the falling off in dairying was due to Labour’s maladmiinstration. The true facts were that there had been a change from dairying to wool and meat, both of which had, risen substantially. , ,

The lump sum payments which it had been alleged had been ‘pinched’ were another attempt to mislead. 'The position was that in complete ;agreement with the leaders of the farmers, this sum had been paid >over by the Imperial Government ■as a direct grant to the Government of this country.

State Housing Labour had built 22,000 State houses, since it had been in office. Mr Holland in his policy speech had declared' that the tenants were denied the possibility of ever owning their own houses. Nobody in this •country was in that position. Every man could raise a loan from the Government for -the purpose of building his own home if he so desired but the State houses were built for a special purpose. They were for those who desired to act as tenants and were content to live under such conditions. The shortage of homes was governed by factors maingly arising from the. war. Today there was a. demand for houses to the value of £40,000,000 to meet which there was only £20,000,000 worth of materals. Controls were absolutely necessary to effect a fair building programme for those who needed homes most urgently. If they were lifted it would mean the same thing that happened after last war. Skyscrapers in the larger cities erected by the Insurance concerns and other vested interests. Labour’s Balanced Budgets Dealing with finance, Mr Boord said that over Labour’s eleven years in office, a balanced budget had been produced annually . with the people st/ standing squarely on their feet and with their heads in the air. The previous Government had never been able to balance its budget in spite of the fact that it had put the country on its back while the Minister of Finance stood on its stomach. Today Labour had practically liquidated the external debt, while following a war which cost this country £630,000,000 only 30 per cent, was still left outstanding and this was owed by the people of this country to the pople of this country.

Stabilisation and Import Control Speaking of the cost of living, he said that due to stabilisation the price of goods were cheaper today than any other country in the western world. New Zealand today had prices on all commodities which

were equal to their cost in 1939. He instanced what was taking place :n the United States and in Canada were stabilisation had been lifted. Prices had been raised since June some 50 per cent. Price control had earned for itself high praise from prominent visitors from Canada and Australia. It had been a boon to everyone and had prevented inflationary tendencies. Turning to secondary industries, he said that the whole of the success of the establishment of the vast number of new enterprises was bound up with import control without which many would be doomed by reason of outside competition from other countries with lower labour standards. Though the National Party knew these facts only too well they were nevertheless most condemnatory of the control which alone was preventing unemployment in secondary industries.

Referring to his opponents assertion that the Labour Government had placed every obstacle in the way of the establishment of the Whakatane Paper Mills. Mr Boord read a letter from the late Mr H. R. Horl’ocks to the late Mr Gordon Hultquist in 1938 expressing endorsement of Mr Hultquist’s candidature, thanking him for what he had done by way of assisting towards the establishment of the mill water supply and expressing gratitude for the genuine interest he (Mr Hultquist) had taken in tk« progress and establishment of the new industry in Whakatane. Industrial Peace Mr Boord read extracts from various National candidates condemning trade unionism. One thing he could say was that N.Z. today was enjoying industrial peace in sharp contrast with the rest of the world. He drew attention to the industrial chaos which was taking place in America and in Europe and declared that with a new Government in power, bent on reducing taxation, bent on abolishing the 40 hour week there was every likelihood of there being an end to our envied state of tranguility. He quoted various published statements made by the National member for this district in which he had criticised the Minister of 'Public Works and his tenyear plan and added that he really did not think such statements were worth comment.

The candidate lauded the Social Security legislation built up by Labour in the face of bitter opposition and remarked that the critics were now the people who said to the electors—-give us this Social Security scheme, the greatest in the world and we will administrate it for you. He condemned the political capital which was being made with regard to shortages—coal and electrical energy. Last year the coal output was a record 2,833,000 tons and yet this was not sufficient to meet the demands of the 1200 new factories in this land. The Labour Government was carrying out intensive research for new deposits and by open-cast mining. The new supplies were urgently needed, he admitted but ultimately the real power would be from the ‘white coal’ which flowed away from Lake Taupo to the sea every day.

Shortages Exaggerated

Commodity shortages, car tyres in particular, /were unavoidable as there was no possible source of supply and if the critics of Labour knew of the whereabouts of any tyres elsewhere, the Government would be very glad to hear of them. He could assure his audience thst just as soon as it was humanly possible all rationing would be lifted. He quoted from letters from overseas (South Africa, U.S.A. and Australia) all of which had been published in the daily press, showing that commodities were in drastically short supply while prices had soared beyond belief.

Scare Bogey

The candidate referred to the press of the'Dominion which he said, had consistently miserpresented and criticised the Labour Government. He added too that the ‘fear bogey’ was being utilised by National speakers up and down the whole country. They were endeavouring to ‘scare’ the people, ultimate Socialism, disinheritance, and appropriation. He could only say this who were the disinheritors—who was it- responsible for thousands walking off their farms, the thousands who were forced out of their homes and who had to sell up everything in order to eke out a liivng during the slump. During Labour’s regime the common people had accumulated more to leave their children than ever before. Labour would see that they continued to have these things.

He described the policy set out by the National Party as a complete about face of all that it had stood for previously, an almost complete appropriation of Labour’s legislation. Should however the guaranteed price be abolished as was threatened, the whole security of the land would be undermined with ramifications reaching into the rehabilitation of our own soldiers. Again if the Land Sales Court were abolished it would mean land speculation overnight and an immediate rise in land by £lO per acre. National had no long-term plan for this country. It was all bits and pieces. It was a mass of contradictions when compared with all the previous statements made by the Leader of the Opposition. If the coun try was ever so unfortunate to have the National Party in office it would mean the loss of many of the privileges which had been won by the people over the past 11 years. He asked all electors to consider the policies of both parties carefully and if of a mind to follow Labour’s lead, he asked them to get behind them and assist them to sweep away remaining barriers in this country to human progress. During the period for questioning there was more liveliness evinced than during the candidate’s main address.

Mr Sharkey asked the candidate if he favoured a greater percentage of freedom for the sale of liquor, declaring that today it was so great a, racket that no Government in the past had been game enough to tackle it. Mr Boord replied that he would not favour the breaking of any of the licensinfg controls now in force though he believed in a freer distribution.

Mr Hunt asked if in the event of the Labour Government ever socialising the land would the candidate be willing to resign his seat? , Mr Boord replied ‘Yes certainly.’

A motion' of thanks and confidence in the candidate and in the Labour Government was carried without dissent on the motion of Messrs. J. Kenworthy. and A. Fitzgerald.