Suggestions

Te Ao Hou, June 1968, Page 55

Suggestions Our assistance to these islands should be on the line of the establishment of trade training or technical schools rather than the persistent development of academic schooling. Secondly, manufacturers could consider the extension of their manufacturing industries into those countries where large labour pools exist. Island people can become good tradesmen—they are extremely adaptable. It is most interesting indeed to note that the small islands of the Pacific produce Wellington bus drivers. It is difficult enough for a Wellington resident to find his own way around through the traffic in Wellington, but when one considers that a man from a very remote island can arive in New Zealand and in a very short space of time become a driver through Wellington streets, it shows just how adaptable the people are. We should also provide free access to the New Zealand market for these islands for all the commodities that they grow or produce. New Zealand is still the centre of Polynesia and must have a continued close relationship with the people of the various Pacific Islands. Again, I do not claim in any way to be an expert in Pacific Island Affairs, but speak entirely as an observer.