SERIOUS HOUSING PROBLEM

Chronicle (Levin), 3 April 1946, Page 4

SERIOUS HOUSING PROBLEM

(Special Australian. Correspondet).

, AUSTRALIA LOOKING FOR N.Z. TIMBER HELP TOWARDS SOLUTION .

Reeeived Tuasday, 7.30 p.m. SYDNEY; April 2. Before the war Australia used to reiy on Caiiada and tiie United States to s-apply most of the housing timher used in the Commonwealth. With the loss of much of the CTnited States trade with Canada, giving preference to Britain,, the Australian- authorities are -'' looking towards llew Zealand to help in the solution of a ; Serious. housing problem. A conference hetween the New Zealand High Commissioner (Mr. J. G. Barclay), the New Zealand Direetor of . Forests and Timher Controller (Mr. A. R. Entrican) and the Victorian Ministers was called because of the dire need of Australia for softwoods shitable for. buildings . - Mr. Cain, Premier of Victoria, said.it

Y?as possible in view of the world timber shortage, that within a few months lrttle Oregon wouli he arriving in Australia. Before the war Victoria buiit a manmum of 9^00 houses annualiy, but in order to allow for a wartime lapse, it was proposed to build 16,000 yearly until the short ?.ges were overccme. The conference decxdcd that the Forests Commission woulc! confer with the New Zealand authorities and report to the State Cahinet on the possibility of increasing the imports of suitable New Zealand woods. The position of New South Wales is even worse than that of Victoria. Aii official source places the annual target at 10,000 houses to satisfy the normal demand of 9000 and begin to overfake the deficiency, which is estimated at 60,0,00. The chief medium for building in Australia is brick, hut here the position is hopeless. Many brickyards are shut and others are handicapped. by lack of .employees and antiquated machinery. Much Australian timber is unsuitable for building, being of the hardwood type. Even in this field, the output is not sufficient to satisfy the needs of the local railways, which use hardwood as sleepers. Experts claim that the existing sawmills are cutting all the timher that ean be spared. Others would merely depiete the resqrves for the future. LEND -LEASE OREGON. As seems usual in Australia, there ispresent one factor that serves to exasperate builders and homeseekers still further. Stajks representing 14,000,000 super feet of huilding Oregon imported under . Lend-Lease during the war have been lying icle here for months. The releass of this timher would greatly alleviate the present pressure on timber resources and « would permit half-finish-ed houses to he completed. The Federal Government deeided to charge the trade an import duty of 14s per 100 suppr feet and builders will not touch the timber as, with the existence of a price ceiling ou building, it would not be worth tbeir while to use it. Estimates nlace New South Wales'

timber requirements during 1946 as 105 000,000 cubic feet for building alone. A cottage of timber and fibro-plaster which cost £680 in 1839, cost £730 in 1944, £980 in 1945 and £1050 in Janu- ' ary this year. Much cf this extra cost is due to the difficulty in ohtaining skilled labour and delays in getting materials. Victorian officials who are investigating the possibility of increasing imports from New Zealand may be clutching at a straw, because of New Zealand 's own commitments as regards housing and also because of the damage done to timber stands by the recent large fires. As in other things, New Zealand has in Australia a timber market the size of which is limited only by the capacity of the supply.