MR SEMPLE AT PAPANUI

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22517, 27 September 1938, Page 12

MR SEMPLE AT PAPANUI

REVIEW OF GOVERNMENT'S

WORK

ALLEGED ATTEMPT TO DISRUPT MEETING

There was uproar in the P a P anu * Town Hall last evening when, at tne conclusion of an address by the Minister for Public Works, the Hon. K. Semple, the Mayor, Mr B. M. Macfarlane, who presided, described the presence of about 100 National Party supporters in the audience of 800 as an organised attempt to disrupt the meeting There was a certain amount of booing from this section of the audience as a counter to Mr Semple s supporters' cheers, but the meeting was no more lively than is normal at a political meeting where any considerable body of opposition is present. Mr Semple was given in the main an attentive and enthusiastic hearing and the applause with which the vote oi thanks was carried at the conclusion came from the whole audience. "I want to speak to-nignt of tne 'Back to Freedom' campaign of the National Party," said Mr Semple. "I want to ask you what freedom the Labour Party has taken away?_ I. say that every man and woman in this country has more freedom now than was enjoyed three years ago." The National Party had no right to talk of a return to liberty of the subject, said Mr Semple. During their last term as a Government, the Nationalists lengthened the life of Parliament without consulting the electors. This was completely against the constitution, which specifically laid it down that Parliament should have a life of three years and no more. They paid themselves during this time out of the public purse without a mandate from the country, but before they went out of power they legalised their action by legislation. The first action of the Labour Government was to restore to the people their freedom to say whether or not the Government should be allowed to carry on. Right of Public Servants

The freedom of the public servants to take any part in politics had been removed by the last Government, and the right of public servants to meet together in their organisations was removed. No public servant could stand for Parliament without losing his job. For the first time in the history of the cou:-'-v. the Labour Government had in full the political rights of public servants, and allowed them a political conscience. The Police Force was denied the right to form an organisation of its own, and the right to meet to discuss its position. This freedom the Labour Government had restored. The freedom of the workers was removed when the Arbitration Court was forced to tear up every industrial agreement then in force, and workers were prevented from obtaining new agreement without the consent of their employers. Under the last Government the position of the youth under 20 years of age was hopeless. There was no provision for the assistance of young New Zealanders until they were 20, and then they were herded into slave crraos at 10s a week. "Before I was thro'-i months in office, I tore all these slave camps down," said Mr Semple. "With their talk about freedom the Nationalists mean the freedom of the minority to exploit the great majority." Road Safety In explaining the Government's activities on behalf of road safety, Mr Semple said that the exceedingly rapid development of motor transport had brought new problems, not only in New Zealand, but throughout the world. The'problems had only one solution, and that was the complete reconstruction of all the main roads of the Dominion in an attempt to keep down the. terrible mortality of the roads "The Government has taken over the main roads from the counties, and has saved the counties £120,000 a year" said Mr Semple. "The Government has built these roads not for a year or 10 years, but for a century. In building reads, we have got to visualise what the traffic requirements are to be in the future, and anticipate them We are establishing the Roman principle of planning roads that will last for centuries." • . Mr Semple described the simplification of the traffic laws of the country, and the efforts made to make the roads safer for the public. The result was that New Zealand now had the lowest mortality rate for every 10,000 vehicles in the world, the figure being 8 8 For this credit had to be given to the splendid co-operation he had received from every section of the PU Mr°Semple concluded by describing the expenditure on public works that had been saved through the use of machinery, and said that the completion of railways that had been undertaken had been necessary to save something of the money that had been spent on them before the Labour Government came into power. WOMEN'S MEETING AT AVONSIDE A special meeting of the Ayonside women's branch of the National Party was held at the. residence of the Misses Beverley, Avonside, yesterday afternoon, the president (Mrs R. S. Ostler) presiding. The party's candidate for the Avon seat, Mr Hiram Hunter, gave an address, and was accorded a hearty vote of thanks at the conclusion.

AVON BRANCH OF NATIONAL

PARTY

A largely-attended meeting of members of the Avon branch of the National Party was held in the Canberra Hall, Linwood, last evening. The chairman of the electoral committee (Dr. W. T. Glasgow) presided. A number of sub-committees were appointed to deal with aspects of the campaign. Encouraging reports were received from the Avonside, Bromley, Aranui, North Beach, and New Brighton committees.