Misuse Of Figures Claimed

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31057, 12 May 1966, Page 3

Misuse Of Figures Claimed

(N.Z. Press Association) WELLINGTON, May 11. Statements by the Leader of the Opposition (Mr Kirk) in his address to the annual conference of the Labour Party could lead prospective investors and immigrants to think that New Zealand was a declining country to be avoided as a place to live in or invest in, the Minister of Finance (Mr Lake) said today. Mr Lake said in a statement that in fact New Zealand was one of the most civilised and prosperous countries in the world. “Unfortunately Mr Kirk’s views may already have received extensive publicity overseas to the detriment of New Zealand’s national reputation,” Mr Lake said. “I can only hope that it is not too late to remove any misconceptions which have been caused by his misuse of statistical material,” he said. Mr Lake said there was nothing surprising in the fact that Mr Kirk had “discovered that although New Zealand’s external trade a head of population was high it was surpassed by the trade of several other countries. “With the possible exception of Sweden, these other countries have lower standards of living than New Zealand,” the Minister said. “The United States, which is generally recognised as having the highest standard of living in the world and is the world’s greatest trading nation, has a comparatively low value of trade a head of population. "Mr Kirk does hot appear to know how to interpret correctly the trade statistics

which have come into his possession.”

On productivity, Mr Lake said it was much harder to raise productivity in the prosperous countries such as New Zealand (average 2.4 per cent) and the United States (average 2 per cent) than it was in the developing countries such as Japan (average 9.1 per cent) and Italy (average 6.5 per cent). “As the Prime Minister pointed out, our gross national product increased by 30 per cent over the period 1960-61 to 1964-65. “All measurements of production present inherent difficulties and international comparisons and particularly difficult because countries such as New Zealand with higher birth rates and more dependent women and children to support are at a disadvantage in such comparisons,” Mr Lake said. “It is clear, however, that by whatever measure of growth is taken, New Zealand has been advancing very rapidly in recent years. “Our people have legtimate cause to be proud of the rapid gains in productivity, particularly our farmers, who are the most efficient in the world.” On medical services, Mr Lake said a small number of persons a physician was not necessarily indicative of high standards of medical research and hospital treatment. “The United States with 760 persons a physician has much better medical research and hospital services than Italy, with 160 persons per physician.”

Referring to education standards, Mr Lake said international comparisons were extraordinarily difficult in the field of education because of differences in the definition of what constituted higher education, differences in the standards expected of graduates and differences in the proportion of total population which was in the age group likely to

benefit from courses of higher education.

Mr Lake said that probably the best guide for comparable information on education was the “Robbins report.” This report made comparisons based on British university degree level.

“The report shows that in 1958-59 when a Labour Government was in office in New Zealand, eight per cent of New Zealanders up to 21 years entered study courses of British degree level,” said Mr Lake. The Robbins Committee had estimated that New Zealanders in the same age group entering study courses of a British degree level in 196869 would be 12 per cent, said Mr Lake. This was considerably higher than estimates for many other countries. “The present Government will continue to ensure that the progress of recent years is maintained,” said Mr Lake. “A rising level of education is a necessary part of the rapid social and economic advancement being achieved under the present Government.” Mr Lake said the fallacies of Mr Kirk’s statistical analyses should not be permitted, however, to obscure his expressions of certain sentiments which could be interpreted as favouring increased investment and productivity but it should be noted that these ran contrary to a call by the president of the Federation of Labour at that body’s conference, for a planned reduction in investment and spending. “There could be grounds for hoping that in economic affairs Labour might not, as it did in relation to our defence against Communist aggression in Vietnam, do exactly what it is told by the Federation of Labour,” said Mr Lake.

“This hope is only a small one because when speaking to the Labour Party conference, the president of the federation openly stated without being challenged that * . . .

with a Labour Government we can get the legislative action we desire,” said Mr Lake. “This suggests that if the Labour Party became the Government, the Federation of Labour would rule this country not only in defence matters but also in economic affairs.

“In such a situation, the few forward-looking sentiments about investment and productivity which were expressed by Mr Kirk would have little prospect of being put into practice,” Mr Lake said.