AID TO BRITAIN

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 76, 5 September 1947, Page 5

AID TO BRITAIN

SHEER LIP-SERVICE ALLEGED MR SULLIVAN’S CRITICISM “Lip-service, nothing more, and : nothing less,” was how Mr W. Sullivan (National, Bay of Plenty) de- ~ scribed the New Zealand’ Government’s policy in giving aid to Britain, speaking in the Budget debate in Parliament. “We want to see something of a positive nature done to help rehabilitate Britain during

this post-war period,” he remarked. The first thing that should be done was to have a conference of Prime Ministers and representatives of the British Dominions, and where an •Opposition in Parliament represented a large proportion of the electors, as did the Opposition in the present Parliament, then it should be represented at that conference, too. “I believe tjiat we should have ■ a get-together policy to try to solve the problems inside our own Empire,” he said, “and after we have done that, we can then approach other nations outside to see what we can get done in that direction.” Britain wanted New Zealand to increase dairy products for exports; :she wanted more meats, fats and pigmeats; and a quicker turn-rouftd of : ships. What was the Government’s policy to increase production, and what was the Minister of Labour doing to speed -up the turn-round of ships? Nothing. The secretary of. the Federation of'Labour had said that .the aid-to-Britain movement would have the fullest co-operation of the trade union movement. “Well, let us have something practical,” commented Mr Sullivan. “Let us know what the trade union movement is going to do ,to help „to put that into effect and give to Britain • and. New Zealand the things needed in this hour of difficulty. We want to act now! A reduction of imports from Britain would suit the Government’s policy, and if we wanted more goods we would have to work for them. British trade unionists had decided to shelve the 40-hour week for the present; was the Government prepared to ask the trade unions of New Zealand to extend the hours of work in' New Zealand? Britain had requested a reduced petrol consumption, but if production were to be increased petrol consumption could not be reduced. By all means cut out waste. An action committee of nine members had recently been appointed to consider the question of aid to Britaifi. “All that committee wants today is. to get the Government’s backing and support in putting into effect the Walsh report,” he said. “If the Government will put the backbone of the Walsh report into effect, and it was published 15 months ago, we might j*et somewhere. Lip-ser-vice is no good.’l am satisfied that right-thinking people want to see done.”