Lieut.-Colonel MOOREasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury if he will consider the desirability of requiring that, when Government contracts are placed with private contractors, a Clause should be inserted in the contracts to ensure preference being given in the case of any unskilled labour required to the unemployed in the district or town where the contract is being carried out; and, further, that such labour should be drawn from the local Employment Exchange?
Mr. SAMUELI do not think that it would be practicable to make this requirement a condition of Government contracts. I am informed that Government contractors do in fact use the Employment Exchanges to a considerable extent for the engagement of labour, and I may point out that by doing so they and other employers can contribute materially towards assisting the unemployment position.