Mr Nash At Opening Of Hurunui Campaign

Press, Volume C, Issue 29516, 18 May 1961, Page 16

Mr Nash At Opening Of Hurunui Campaign

If the National Government kept on making mistakes at the present rate, there would not be another it could make in 1963, said the Leader of the Opposition (Mr Nash) in Rangiora last evening. He was speaking at the opening of the Labour Party campaign in the Hurunui by-election on June 10.

Mr Nash spoke after the Labour candidate (Mr A. A. Adcock), and in his address, which lasted an hour, he discussed the Government’s policy. About 170 persons listened attentively to Mr Nash, and often applauded loudly.

The Government, he said, had considered stopping the milk-in-schools scheme because of the wastage that had occurred.

“Let me say wastage in schools is nothing comparable to the wastage in your own homes, yet the Government considers the cost of £631,000 for the scheme could be better spent. Milk in schools is something a little more for the working class, and I can’t think of any better way the money could be spent,” said Mr Nash. “I don’t think they will manage to get that through Parliament.” If the Government wanted to join the International Monetary Fund it should first speak to the people and not make a decision on its own, said Mr Nash. “I know as much as anyone about the fund, and I also know we can get all the money we require for this country at a cheaper rate than that offered by the fund. Car Imports "Mr Marshall has made some remarkable hire-pur-chase proposals tor motorcars,” Mr Nash said. "In Australia he said a scheme was possible which would provide for a startling in. crease of the number of cars for New Zealand. This hirepurchase scheme would be financed by companies in the United Kingdom. Mr Marshall said there would be no major difficulty in overseas funds. “Inevitably we must pay for the scheme by borrowing for the sale of commodities. The Government says it is short of overseas funds. I have never heard of a more nonsensical scheme than this because it must mean a drain on reserves. “There are so many other things connected with cars which demand overseas funds —petrol, oil, and rubber. I think you will find the Government will abandon that one. Cook Strait Cable “Then we have the Cook Strait cable. I think it will cost about £2Bm. If there is one advantage which the South Island enjoys it is the facilities for obtaining electric power, and I think ways should be found of using that power here. "The former Minister in charge of Hydro-electricity (Mr Watt) had schemes in hand which would have kept this country going until 1971 and always kept seven years ahead of the demands.

vide, all the power needed in the North island.”

He had seen a statement by the Minister of Immigration (Mr Shand) that the Government would bring in 5000 immigrants instead of the scheduled 2180. "I would be the last to object to immigrants coming to this country under certain conditions, but if we are to proceed, we should not stop building houses," he said. "What is the good of restricting building if we are to have an increase like this? Subsidies

“Mr Holyoake said he was having inquiries made into the subsidies on food, which is a burden of about £lsm. He told the press that a subcommittee of inquiry was going into the effects of the subsidies on the economy of the country. Then Mr Marshall said the subsidies and alterations had not in any way been considered by the Government and the Cabinet.”

Some subsidies probably could be altered, but the implications were great, said Mr Nash.' Butter would cost 8d more a pound, eggs 8d more a dozen, milk 4’d more a quart, and gas 2s more a thousand cubic feet Then, with this £lsm the Government would reduce taxation, but this is an iniquitous method, because it is the people in the lower income brackets who get the benefit of the bread and butter subsidies.” The Government had made it increasingly difficult for persons to own their own homes. Insurance companies’ rates had risen from 5| per cent, to 6 per cent, on first mortgages, and they gave not one more item of service for the added charge, said Mr Nash.

"This higher rate of interest is having the effect of stopping people from owning their homes. The Government proposes to guarantee that any doubtful part of the first and second mortgages on older houses will be repaid. This would have the effect of financing older houses, but it would not add one foot to the room available.

Compulsory Unionism “I have a feeling that the National Government will drop compulsory unionism as well, or else when it puts a bill before Parliament it will be so worded that it won’t make any difference to the situation.

“We have had compulsory arbitration and conciliation for 25 years—which is really all compulsory unionism is—and I would think that there is no other country in the

world which has fewer strikes than New Zealand.

“I don’t like compulsion in any form, but we must remember that we have compulsory education and many organisations with some form of compulsion. I would like to see a doctor try to set up practice in this country without being a member of the British Medical Association.

“If persons are paying fees to a union and the union is obtaining improved working conditions and reasonable wages, I don’t feel it is fair for some who are not paying to receive the benefits,” said Mr Nash.

There were about 20 items on a list he had which showed subtle forms in which the Government had taken a little more from the people in the lower income brackets said Mr Nash. Disarmament

Turning to external affairs, Mr Nash said he thought Mr Khrushchev genuinely wanted disarmament. “I don’t like his way of going about it, but I'm sure that is his aim. He dreads the thought of his country being devastated again. If there is anything he fears it is China opposing the Soviet Union, and he is also worried about Germany.’

Mr Nash, speaking of Africa, said; “I believe the north will soon stream down to the south, and that we are in for incalculable trouble there. The enemy will be colour.”

Another major problem was international armaments, said Mr Nash. The United States at present had enough bombs to destroy every living thing on the earth and do it four times over.

Mr Nash’s Tribute To Mr Gillespie

“Although our politics were totally different, I admired Mr Gillespie as a man who spoke as he thought. I cannot let this occasion go by without paying a special tribute to him.” said the Leader of the Opposition (Mr Nash) last evening at Rangiora. “I think I thought a lot more of him than he did of me,” said Mr Nash. “As Minister of Agriculture he would, I feel, have continued to do great work."

“I am sure we could pro-