PLANS FOR NEW INDUSTRIES

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24907, 21 June 1946, Page 6

PLANS FOR NEW INDUSTRIES

FEDERATED FARMERS APPREHENSIVE EFFECT ON EXISTING ENTERPRISES (P.A.) WELLINGTON, June 20. Apprehension that Government plans for further industrial development will retard existing industries is expressed in a statement to-day by Federated Farmers oP New Zealand. The introduction of new undertakings will, it is feared, aggravate the present competition for labour and materials, Biready in short supply as a result of “our existing unbalanced economy.” “That fear is accentuated,” says the statement, “by the Government’s own statements in the last few days, concerning cuts in North Island railway services, and the acute shortage of timber. At present there are acute shortages not only of coal and timber, but of electric power, cement, and a host of other basic requirements. If the policy of industrial expansion proceeds. the coal and power shortages alone will be intensified, and the production of older industries jeoparised. “Until urgent shortages for established industries are overcome, the federation believes that there should be no thought of dissipating the national energies over a large field of enterprise. Such a course can lead only to a diminution of the total production of . the Dominion, and a consequent reduction in the share of wealth available to individuals. As increased production is an urgent need to-day, it must surely be unv ise to embark on any policy which is likely to retard it. The present problems of present industries should be tackled before any move is ms de to develop new industries.”