[unclear: ek] is Economic Crisis Week.

[unclear: the] middle of 1974. the New [unclear: Zea- nony] has been firmJy ensconced in [unclear: he] features of this economic crisis [unclear: huge] balance of payments deficit, [unclear: in] the terms of trade, falling real [unclear: industry], rising inflation and high [unclear: yment]. The effects of this crisis [unclear: n] severe; they include wage res-[unclear: igher] prices for Government [unclear: server] Government spending, a hig-[unclear: ake], heavy overseas borrowing and [unclear: queeze] (which has the effect of [unclear: interest] rates high, restricting bo[unclear: and] limiting consumer credit), [unclear: overnment] imposed measures [unclear: ary] in intensity - usually in [unclear: di-tion] to the closeness of a [unclear: gene- on.]

[unclear: ell] as these economic measures, the [unclear: also] precipitated a whole set of Go-[unclear: t] action and legislation that can be [unclear: ly] described as anti-democratic. For [unclear: a] economic crisis, it is the working [unclear: hat] suffer most. And to stifle any [unclear: k] by workers, we have seen a La-[unclear: vernment] setting up the Wanganui [unclear: er] Centre, making dawn raids on Po-[unclear: 'overstayers'] in Auckland and seen [unclear: MP's] - attempting to reduce the sig-[unclear: e] of workers taking action in pro-[unclear: aking] rabidly anti-Communist speec-[unclear: arliament] and alleging Communist [unclear: on] of this industrial conflict. The [unclear: l] Government has continued [unclear: d] instituted by Labour. It has pas-[unclear: lation] which infringes on the right [unclear: and] prevents political strikes. Na-[unclear: as] introduced the SIS Amendment [unclear: lloow] wider spying by the secret po-[unclear: has] even attacked the right of the [unclear: al] to free speech (remember Mul-[unclear: attack] on the chairperson of Hart?).

[unclear: se] measures are not the result of the [unclear: l] personalities involved. They are, in [unclear: icies] which the present cri-[unclear: ands]. They are designed to suppress [unclear: testing] indignation of the New Zea-[unclear: ople] over the effects of the economic crisis.