Salient. Victoria University Students' Paper. Vol. 26, No. 4. Monday, April 8, 1963
Concern Of Gov't Is Family Man
Concern Of Gov't Is Family Man
"New Zealand should realise that it is in the South Pacific not the North Atlantic," said Mr. Conrad Bollinger, editor of the Public Service Journal, speaking at an anarchist-sponsored talk entitled "New Zealand In The Sixties."
"Government is concerned with the New Zealander as a family man, an employed man, his possibility of being Jimmy Fletcher; it is concerned with all these things, but not with the New Zealander as an individual," he said.
"Republican ideas were originally tied in closely with the idea of a property-owning democracy.
"In the 90s, with the development of the frozen meat trade, a patriotic sentimentality towards the 'mother country' developed." Bollinger said.
"But 'big brother' failed during the course of the Second World War and New Zealand was forced to look elsewhere for protection against the 'yellow peril.'
"The 'yellow peril' has now become a more sophisticated fear of Communism," Bollinger said.
"We must realise that these people have a right to the same standard of living as we enjoy," he concluded.
Denis Rose said he had studied the Party manifestoes in vain for some mention of who should own the means of production and control.
An economist in the Reserve Bank, he said both political parties only nibbled at this issue.
"The National Party still talks about handing the Nac back to private enterprise and the Labour Party has schemes for making the Post Office a cheque-issuing organisation, but both parties are too wary to tackle the root of the problem," Rose said.
"Since the depression, economists have seen the necessity of Government intervention in economic matters to ensure that there is some mitigation of the boom-bust cycle, the natural upshot of orthodox capitalism," Rose said.
"There should be some attempt to establish co-operative control of industries and, except for a minimal amount of central planning, the workers should control enterprises in certain areas."
Rose concluded his talk with: "New Zealand has the right and obligation to experiment in such matters."
Jim Turner, a student, the last of the three speakers, emphasised the great social problems which would confront New Zealand in the near future.
"The prefab, schoolroom is likely to still remain, at least until it falls down," he said.
Some plans for high-density housing were essential as it was becoming obvious that the old scheme of the quarter acre per house just could not survive.
More reliance would be placed on charitable organisations like the Rsa to provide social relief in the community because the identical nature of the parties made comprehensive schemes unlikely.
He could see little likelihood of either party formulating a policy on the liquor question and such parties as Social Credit and the newly-formed Liberal Party would still only gain votes of protest.