50 years ago

COMMONWEALTH and State immigration authorities will be asked to divert migrants to provincial centres to alleviate an industrial labor shortage. Hamilton City councillor, Clem Cook, initiated the move at a meeting of the Provincial Cities’ and Towns’ Association of Victoria, held in Hamilton. Hamilton is already experiencing labor problems and the city council has had to turn away a clothing industry because of a shortage of female factory labor in the city. Cr Cook told the association’s annual conference that provincial centres seemed to face an endless cycle in industrial development. “Either we haven’t got enough industry, although that’s being overcome now, or we haven’t got people for industry or we haven’t got enough houses for the people,” he said.