SILENCE OF MR. NASH

Chronicle (Levin), 12 February 1948, Page 5

SILENCE OF MR. NASH

People Should Be Told About HavanaTaiks

WELLINGTON,- Feb. 12. • It is Nnearly thr.ee mpn.ths .sinqe the Minister -of iFinajice, Mr. Nash,ieft for Havana and bne* might Teasonably have gxpe.cted that ;the' official progress r.epor-ts might have been -made available for the ihxormation of impojcters a.rid the public generally, said- Mr. .J. R.* Marshall, M.P. for Mt. Victoria, in a statement today. "Mr. Nash as -strangely, sileftt about the progress .of the trade negotiations. The changeover from open diplomacy to secret negotiations "had be.en from one extreme tct the other," he added.

The pattern of trade ha$ changed qonsider.abiy since the war, Qohtinued Mr. .Marshall. Foltcwing the precedent established during the war, many Governments were ' assuming the responsibfiity of , determinihg what -quanuties might be imported, where they were to come from and even in sowe cases what prices should be paid for shem. In the main those Governanent contracts were for bulk suppliers of foodstuffs or raw materials. There w.ere very few free countries in which such cqmplete powers over impprts and experts had" been takeri as had the; New Zealand Government. "Unquestionably one of the major issues to he considered iri

Havana is Government control of imports. The Opposition "in New Zealand has received no information from the -Government regarding the course of the discussion on import control beyond the very general statement by Mr. -Nash published in the Press recently. It appears to be assumed on the part of a large section of the public that members of the Opposition are being kept informed of the progress of the talks.- Nothing could be further from the truth. "The Government is maintaining, at very . . cpnsiderable public expense, an lhformation service, but on this most important mat-ter information is being with-held. It is most undesirable for this official attitude of complete secrecy to continue. "New Zealand has greater overseas trade in . proportion to its population ,than any other country in t-he world, and the people who are so vitally affected have every right to be kept informed of the policy and decisions that have been made or are cpntemplated by the Government's represehtative at Havana," Mr. Marshall concluded.