§ 8. Major Carverasked the Minister of Labour whether his attention has been called to the extreme difficulty experienced by farmers in obtaining suitable casual labour to assist them during the present hay harvest; and whether, in view of this, the situation can be treated as one of emergency by his Department?
§ Mr. ButlerI am aware that difficulty is found in obtaining a sufficient number of casual workers for seasonal agricultural work. The Employment Exchanges assist farmers by bringing vacancies to the notice of suitable persons who are available; where the number of local applicants is insufficient to meet employers' requirements, the vacancies are brought to the notice of persons in other districts. The situation is receiving the constant attention of local officers of my Department.