IMMIGRATION PLANS

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 198, 19 May 1944, Page 4

IMMIGRATION PLANS

Government Asked To Prepare

WARNINGS AGAINST DELAY

Plans for systematic immigration after, the war should be made beforehand by the Government of New Zealand, said speakers at a meeting of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce this week. Mr. AV. H. Hindle said that the stater meats of the Prime Minister, Mr. Fraser, on post-war migration, would be well received in New Zealand. New Zealand s first duty was the housing and rehabilitation of her own servicemen and women, but it was also desirable that plans for migration should be put in train at an early date. “It would be quite unwise to concentrate on housing and rehabilitation to the exclusion of migration’’ said Mr. Hindle, “for we must be early in the field in the search for suitable types of immigrants. We have in this country a Minister of Immigration, and it is urged that the Minister and his staff get right on with plans for the job. Our postwar migration must be definitely planned and integrated with our economic and social life. The public should be kept informed on the plans for peopling New Zealand. A favourable public opinion should be progressively built up by the constant dissemination of factual information issued from the Ministry of Immigration. There is in some quarters resistance to immigration which should be countered, and every endeavour should be made to build up a public outlook favourable to the reception in this country of suitable migrants, in their tens of thousands, introduced progressively under a long-term, intelligent plan.” Mr. M. G. C. McCaul said the Government should help those organizations .that were pressing for more immigrants. He favoured the immigration of orphan children for adoption by New .Zealanders. Mr. F. C. Pears said that immigration should be so planned that the immigrants could fit into the economic life of the country without detrimental effect on New Zealand people. A haphazard or badlyplanned scheme would probably be worse than none at all. He was not in agreement with Mr. Fraser when he said that the policy of the Government was to rehabilitate servicemen before admitting immigrants. The first, thing to do was to rehabilitate commerce and industry. If that were done the absorption of the majority of servicemen would be comparatively simple. He saw no reason why a proper scheme of immigrat ion could not go hand-in-hand with, and be an advantage to, the rehabilitation of serviceMr. R. 11. Nimmo said the housing difficulty should not be over-emphasized. “If we are not careful wo will miss the cream of the immigrants,” he said. “In addition to British stock, I think we should have immigrants of Danish and similar stock.” The president, Mr. F. Wilson, said there were other Dominions looking for increased populations, and New Zealand would have to get on with the job or be left behind.