PEOPLE STILL HAVE FREEDOM SAYS MINISTER

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 59, 4 November 1949, Page 5

PEOPLE STILL HAVE FREEDOM SAYS MINISTER

The Government had often been accused by the Leader of the Opposition of taking way the “people’s freedom” but today nobody seemed to know what freedom the people had lost, declared the Minister of Agriculture, Mr E. L. Cullen, in an election address at Edgecumbe this week. Before the Labour- Party had come into power civil servants were not allowed to criticise the Government or stand for parliamentary honours but this was changed, he added. ,

■ “And yet today we find civil .servants looking for parliamentary honours and carrying the national banner. Hypocritical. The National Party takes away the freedom of the civil servant and the Government gives it back and look what goes on,” he said. Mr Cullen was given an attentive hearing and a vote of thanks was passed. Import Control

The Minister said that New Zealand could not do without import control. One National member of Parliament had said that the pound today was worth very little but there was a time when few people could get a pound.

When the Government came into power there was much unemployment but this had been done away with. For this the National Party had to give the Government credit. Discussing the Government’s rehabilitation scheme Mr Cullen pointed out that in the early stages it had been very difficult to form a set policy. However, it had gradually developed to its present stage. He quoted figures to show the work already completed. So far in the last five years 34,000 returned men' hacL been housed while the total' of all expenditure to date was £76 million. £487,000 had been spent training men for farming. Much of the success of this training scheme was due to the way the farmers of the Dominion had come forward and assisted returned men to train and settle on farms, he added. Mr Cullen said he believed in and regarded the rehabilitation scheme as a non-party measure although the National Party were quite at liberty t-6 regard it as their policy. Agricultural Policy

The Government had improved New Zealand agricultural policy since it had been in office, he continued. When it first came in it was discovered that Ruakura was to be sold for a farm, yet today it was the greatesj experimental farm in the world. To carry On this work two more farms had been recently acquired and the Government was still looking round for a suitable property to be used as an experimental farm to serve the Bay of Plenty-Rotorua-Waikato districts.

The work carried out on these farms was very vital to New Zealand and this coming year, it was planned by the Department to carry out experiments and research work on the different types of farming now being carried on in this country.