MR HOLLAND ASKS FOR GOVERNMENT'S PLANS

Chronicle (Levin), 28 June 1946, Page 6

MR HOLLAND ASKS FOR GOVERNMENT'S PLANS

-Press Association

■ TO INCREASE SUPPLY OF VTTAL NECESSIT1ES _

Labour Blamed Fof Present Shortages

By Telegraph—

"This is when the 1946 S( action," said the Leader of the rising to speak to the Iinprest Su liad been disposed of in the House The truth of his observat Holland had proceeded. far with interjecting frequently. Mr. Holland said the publie were seeking answers to a, nurnber of importuut- questions, particularly coneerning shortages winchmore being experienced in cver'y walk of life. The need for shortages "vvas recognised diiring the vvar but with a returu to peace the publie were not prepared to submit to a continuation of controls. A continuation of present shortages was inconsistent with the objectives for which the war was fouglit— the xeturn of o'Ur freedom and the obtaining of'improved living atandards. Nobody dreamed during the war that queuing up for goods — particularly those required by women — would' becoine part of our normal peacetime life. The people of .New Zealand accepted restrictions on their eonsumption of food and would accept i'urther restrictions of that kind, if tlie Governinent would give them a lead. Thcy wantcd to make a major CQntribution to the saving of livcs which would otlierwisc be lost in the crisis Bweeping Europe and Britain but they did uoi want restrictions of their freedoni which had uothing to do with fe'eding tlie people of Europe. Mr. Holland said that in recent visits to a number of New Zealand eilies, ho had seen people, mostly woilienfoJk, queuing up for thiugs thcy had a xight to obtain and which. they nxostly needed. Mr. Clyde C'arr (Timaru) : Chocolate and ricli eakc. Mr. Holland: No. Essential commodities liko elastic. Governinent mcmbers: Sliangliaisl Mr. Holland: The Member for Christchurch East (Miss Howard) '.will (igreo with nie that elastic is a conmiodity of high priority. Mr. W. T. Anderton (Eden) : Tlxat's stretching it. Mr. Holland said it was no fun for women with young children to stand in a queue seoking things they needed. Men today were in a very fortunate position compared with women. If a inan needed a suit he could order it from a tailor and wait 6 to 8 months for it but women had to stand in queues for things they required. What of Coal? Mr. Holland said one of the most pressing shortages was-' that of coal. Coal production had increased by about lialf a million tons last yejiT compared witli 1939, duo to the i-ntroduction of opou cust mining but much of this coal was of inferior quality. The publie wauted to know what provision the Goye,rument was making to erisure sufficieut coal was ayaijable for the country 's reasonabie heeds.,! Shortages of hot water and eooking facilities wero inconveniencing many homes owing to fuel supplies failing. Mr. Holland said the Shortage of home-grown Svlicat was leading to'New Zeiiland drawing on world stockpiles at a time when starvilig peoples desperately needed grains. The .Governinent llad bought Canadian wheat at 13s 3d a bushel and a quantity of Australian wheat was recently purchased.at a priCe reported to l\e 9s ld a bushel, yet all the Governmcnt would pay the New Zealand wheat-grower was 7s Id. Auother shortage causing needless ] distress was that of building materialg. Coment was as short as gold, while many houses had to wait months for a bath or hardware essential to their eoiupletion. " Mr. Holland moved the following amendment: "That as the living standards of the people depend npon the. goods and services available to them, and as every limitation or restrictlon on the people 's ability. to procure the goods and services they need amounts to the lowering of their living standards, the Government he urged to lay hefore this House and country, details of its plan (if any) to increase the supply of goods vital to a higher standard of living but which cannot be obtained by the people. "As a first step towards i;hat cnrt the Governmerit be urged to remove ali ' restrictions on the obtaining of goods in short supply which cannot be efficicntly produced in sufficient quantities from local resourccs." Hon. A. H. Nordmeyer gavc to tlie House figures of import licences undei which goods wero brought - into the country sinee 1939 when licenees to the value of £.17, 4(50, 000 were issued for goods to the value of £43,834,000: In 1940 licences were valued at £50,5(54,000 and goods imvojted £42,149,000. The stotal value of licences up to last year ivas £342,238,000 for goods to-tlie value of £2(50,107,000, which was an excess of licduces over goods of £76,131,000. It had been impossible for importers to bring goods to the total value of their licences ihto the country because of the Jack, of shipping space and the f act that scveral lines of goods were not being manufactured. Mr. Nordmeyer declared that import controi was not responsible for thcshortages of. goods in this .country. It was not possible for eountries manufacturing eertain goods to produce them and shortage of shipping made it impossible to bring the goods into the country in the quantity desired. One resuit of import eoutrol was that many lines of goods were being made in' New Zealand at a time when it was impossible to secure those goods from other eountries. Anvone who said import controi was responsible for the shortages was' dcliberately misrepreseuting the true positioa.' ■ ' * '

. WELLINGTON, June 27. jssion of Parliament swings into Opposition, Mr. S. G. Holland, on pply Bill after tlie fornial business i of Representatives this afternoon. ions was imderlined before Mr. his speech, Government lnembers An Opposition member: I take it that you're going to ivipe out iniport ; controi theh. ■ Mr. Nordmeyer: We must have some degree of import contrbl. This country cannot exist in futuro without import controi. It would be impossible to maintain our excliange position and economy and sterling balances without import controi. Mr. Nordmeyer asked what was the National Party's policy in regard to import controi. Mr! W. J. Broadfoot (Waitomo): What's .yours? We are asking you. Mr. Nordmeyer said the National Party 's policy was deflation and was advoeated by the big linancial interes'ts which yvero behind the National Party. He said it was a b'ig qoncession for the Leader of tlie OppositiQn to make when Mr. Holland admitted there had been more coal produced last year than ever befpre but Mr. Holland had been soft pcdulling lately and he was careful not t'o suggcst any plans for increasing the productidh of coal, wheat and elcc tricity. Mr. Nordmeyer inferred from Mr. Holland 's speech lliKt the New Zealand farmer- was ontitled to receive a price for his wheat equal to Ihe, price the Government brought wheat into the country. On the other hand, would the New Zealand farmer have his price redueed to world parity? The Australian wheatgrower reecived 5s (5d a bushel and for wheat exported a higher price but Australian experts were only a small proportion of the amount produced. The New Zealand farmer re ceived 7s ld a bushel and it could nol be suggested.he was badly ofE. Mr. Nordmeyer said it was not as if the land which might be prodiicing wheat were out of production' ontirely. It did not.follow that because the acreage was less, production was down. The land had been growing other commodities. It had been claimed by the Opposition there was a need for the Goverq.meut to restore freedom from controls. Abhost every week controls were- being relaxed and rcgulations aunulled The Government had honoured its pledge to Tembve. controls as soon as possible. He asked the opposition to. name particulai controls which were inflicting liardships on the people. Was not the free dom tliat .the National Party would liltt t'o see rehiovcd, flt6 ' il'Aeddili "W exploit t At this stage Mr. Speaker read the amendment and the Prime Minister immediately rose to a point of order, asking what the effpct 'of the amendment would- be if it were carfied? Mr. Speaker said it would mean.the end of the Imprest debate. The debate then continued with Mr. I. T. Watts (Bicearton) sayiug that the Government had been asked to lay its plaiis bef'ore the House, on how it proposed .to overcome the shortages. The Governinent had given nothing away. He w^ould offer two suggestions, the re moval of. paralysing taxatlon and a thorough overhaul of the firesent import ing system. He-considered that the Governmcnt 's plaus consisted- of con trojs only. The country required less grnndiose planning i'or the future and more attention to immediate needs. The Dominion today had the greatesi skiiled labour force it had ever possessed, the greatest backlog of demand and tlie greatest accumulntion of pur chasing power in its history. Yet the Government had failed to overeome shortages whidi were inflict ing a hardshlp on all. Mr. T. H. AlcConibs (Lyttelton) said most of the controls of which the Opposition complaincd, had in fact been introduccd during the war to cnsure a fair distribution, of goods in shorl aupply. Manv of these controls had siuce been 'removed and olliors would go as soon as possible. There were feu

queues in New Zealand except for c.hocolates and cigarettes. In r.egard to building materials and other conunodi ties, it had been remembered that otlier eountries were also desperately short and New Zealand 's dijSiculties arose partJy from the inability of other coun trles to supply our demands. In regard to coal it should be Temembered that during the war consumption had greatly increased — J G per cent. for railways. IS per cent. for gasworlts, and similar increases for industriaJ usea. Mr. MeCombs said the Opposition amendment had been moved in a spirit of politicaJ frivolity, for the Opposition knew that the snccess of 'the amendment would meau the sloppage of all departmental payments. Mr. C. M. Bowden (Wellington AYest) said. last year's Budget had affirxned that after six vears of wrar the people of New Zealand were entitled to spend their money freely but the Government had failed to take the necessary steps to make that possible by bridging the disparity between the available supply of money and the quantity of goods available. Mr. Bowden said that if some shortage were due to laclc of shipping, why did the ships come to New Zealand in ballasf? He said iinport controi was instituted at iirst to conserve sterling funds but New Zealand now had sterling funds far in advanee of her requirements, and the only reason for a retention of import' 'controi was to secure controi of business. TTon. D. Ci. Sullivan: We will buy if Britain will sell. Mr. Bowdea waated to kaow wkat \

was the Government plan' to encouragi more .farm. and factory production and to induce manufacturers to expand. There was not much inducemeut to expand when the Government took- so rnueh in taxation, as, for instance, £472 in £500 in a eertain group. When, he asked, would the Government realise that it was no crime to make a prolit? Another important matter was what was the Government going to do to prevent stoppages in work? The proposal help farmers were to receive, as outlined in the speech from the Throne, he described as the Government 's "deathbed repentance., The Government 's policy to overcome shortages was nega•tive and - the people wanted some answer. ■ Mr. H. E. Combs (Wellington South) said the country could not expect„, to have things set right in a matter of months after - six 'years ' upset due to war. New Zealand had done,a great job bringing back all its tTpops and if those ships brought goods to the coum try instead, the people would have been up in arms. Could the Opposition have managed any better in tho last ten months, than the Government? We could do without things in New Zealand iintil the shortages had been met in England. .The Opposition view of shortages was selfish and shortsighted. It was unworthy of a person to eomplain about shortages in this country so soon ai'ter the war. He drew a eomparison between New Zealand and the (jnited States wher'e prices "had soared and men driven to industrial rebellion against . their emplovers. The people of New Zealand could nqt bo too thankful for an intelligent Government and the effective power it had shown in keepiug prices down while incomes had been raised and house rents kep.t to the 1939 level. Tlierc was no oue today who could say he was uot better off. now than in 1939. Stubilisation of the general conditions of the people had been a splendid thing anij the standard of living as high today as it had ever been. > Mr. W. A. Bheat (Patea) said thi) Opposition amendment simply eallcd to/ what plans the Government had to mect the shortages of goods. Despito the figures ' given by Mr. Nordmeyer," licences for many classes of goods liatj been refused in toto and ships whiclx had come to New Zealand to load pro^ duce had. arrived in ballast from England. It ha4 been stated often that Britain was more concerued with buiiding .Up an fexport trade tliau meeting lier losses. New Zealand had every" opportunity to play a greater part than slie apparently was prepared to play to liejp Britain. re-estabiish her export trade. The people of New Zealand were living in an era of scarcity and the probleni of reaching a solution to overcome tnc shortages . rested on Parliament as a whole. Hon. Ii. Semple said that to listen to Opposition sjiealcers was to gain the impression that New Zealand was the only country in the world suffering from shortages whereas in fact shortages were world wide. The coal shortage was also world wide. Could any member of the Opposition tell the House how another ton of coal could be oOtained?-; There was no easy solution of the mining . problem because miners' sOns, , i?lstead of going down the mines after' obtaining perhaps a fourth .standard i sehooliiig,; were now- elijoyili^' aUvanehd education and refusing to go into underground infernocs. Coal mining was the most dangerous occupation in the world and new chums could not be sent down the mines to endanger the lives of otiiers. Mr. Bemple said New Zealand today was industfially the most peaceful country in the world and was fortunate to escape the upheavals which were interfering with production in otker eountries. Any man who poured aeorn on the development plans for New Zealahd had not "th'e vision of a crawtish or tlie soul of a whitebait". Mr. W. A. Bodkin (Central Otago) declared the people were actually slnveriug in their homes today because o.t fuel shortages. Keturned men found it cost them £100 per rooni for furniture while shirts wero obtainable only by going on waiting lists. It cost the men ret'urning to inufti £20 to £25 to buy a suit but the Government 's reply was, "never mind about your suit, avc'U build u lot of publie works later on. " The Government was in sucli a state of mental muddle that, to cloud the real issue — production of more goods — thcy were indulging in all sorts of long-range plans that had no bearing on the present needs of the people who wero short of everything. Mr. Broadfoot: There Is no .shortage of shortages.

Minister in Reply. Hon. D. G. Wullivan said in liis opinion tlie Leader of the Opposition 's ! nmendment was an attack on the Gov- j ernment and was eompletely misdirec-j ted because, if the Opposition wished ; to remove eertain coiitrols governingi the iinportatiou of goods, they should ! not approaeh this Government but tlie Governments of eountries which had' ixnposed quotas and rostrictiotis on the j export of goods. There was not a'' single articie or line of goods in short ' supply in this country for whicli thej Government liad not issued suJiicient ! licences to provide ndequate supplies. The resoiution ealled on tlie Govern- { ment to produce its plans for the futuro j but they had already been aonounced. j There was not a single phasc of the life j of the country which "had not been ex- ! amiued earefully. In "regard to the (lower shortage, there were difficulties 1 today because of rec'onversion from war | to peacetime industry in eountries i which provide the necessary equipment. ! The Minister said of industry gener- J ally that one of the diffieulties was for ; the Government to lceep pace with the iiood of applieations, all of which clamoured for oppor tuni ties to beeome established in the Dominion. He assnmed that the Opposition did not wisli liim to "knoek tliem back." He I said the capacity of tlie country to-l produce goods sucli as refrigerators and | washing maeli r.es was equal to the full ! demands of the country. "The capac- j ity is there but not tlie staft", " he said. ' ■Tho output of. eeinent in the Domir.- j ion was not kee^ing pace with the de- J ■manu otnng largely to staS shortages in

1 Ihe eement plants aiul also to tlie vigorous prograiiimc of housiug and other building pursued bv tlie "Minister of Works. (Jonsidetable orders for cenient i had therefore bceu placed overseas but j supplies were unavailable. Biuiilarly i gypsum had bcn sought from Austraiia but shipping diiliculties made it impossible to obtain supplies at present. Not only had iniport licences been is sued for all necessary goods in short , supply but" cablos ulso were continually i being sent away in an endeavour to ob- 1 tain supplies. Mr. W. Buliivan (Bav of Plenty): Wliy don't you lot tlio importers obtain the goods? The Minister replied that tlie Govern ment would stand or fall by its import seleclion policy. The Opposition on the other hand would abandou iniport selectio.n, allowing the importation uot only of goods in short supply 'but also of those being pientifullv produced in the Dominion. New Zealand manufacturers and artisans were deeply concerned about tliis intention of the Opposition. j Shortly after eleven o'clock the House divided on Mr. Holland 's amendment which was defeated 43 to 34. The Imprest Supply Bill . was then taken throitgh all stages and passed at 11.33 p.m. Tlie Bill gives the Government two months supply amo,unting to £21,889,- j 000, The House r.ose at 11.34 uutil 10.30 i tomorrqw morning, * ' ' ' _ ' j