Oral Answers to Questions — Employment – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 16 Rhagfyr 1947.
asked the Lord President of the Council why the Central Office of Information has distributed a large amount of advertising matter to firms in the London area giving details of an exhibition about New Zealand which, except for Saturday afternoons, is only open to these firms' employees during their normal office hours.
Small posters and handbills advertising the "Meet New Zealand" Exhibition have been distributed in limited numbers to schools and firms in the London district. This material reaches not only the employees of the firms but, through them, their families and friends. The present hours of opening are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on all weekdays, except Christmas Day, when the exhibition will be closed, and Boxing Day, when it will open at 2 p.m. To some extent the staggering of working hours will make it possible for industrial and office workers to visit the exhibition, and requests have been received from firms to arrange visits for parties of their trainees, within these hours. But, in order to facilitate the attendance of workers, it has now been agreed with the High Commissioner for New Zealand, whose office provides the staff, that the exhibition should be open from 10.30 a.m. to 7.30 p.m. on weekdays. This extension of hours will be put into effect within two or three days, as soon as the necessary staff arrangements can be made.
Does not the Minister think that it would be possible on several evenings a week to keep the exhibition open until 10 o'clock in the evening, and not just until 7 o'clock?
It is a matter of staffing, for which the New Zealand High Commissioner's office is responsible, and, on the experience of other exhibitions which have been open until a late hour—analogous exhibitions—it does not look as though that would be particularly successful.