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(d) Revocation of Declaration of Essential Undertaking No. 106, as published in Gazette No. 78 (20th August, 1942), together with amendments : affects undertakings relating to wood products. Dated 31st January, 1946, and published in Gazette, 1946, page 84. (e) Revocation of Declaration of Essential Undertaking No. 78," as published in Gazette No. 60 (18th June, 1942), together with amendments : this revocation was contained in Declaration of Essential Undertaking No. 151 (dated 20th July, 1944, and published in Gazette, 1944, page 925), which declared the Public Service to be an essential undertaking. (/) Revocation of Declaration of Essential Undertaking No. 151 (in (e) above). Dated 24th August, 1945, and published in Gazette, 1945, page 1108. The essentiality of afforestation operations of the State Forest Service was preserved under the amendment to the Declaration of Essential Undertakings No. 99, noted above, but all controls of man-power were subsequently revoked as from the 29th June, 1946. 102. Industrial Man-jpower.—Due to the returning of servicemen, gains in manpower exceeded the losses in most districts. Unfortunately, however, the losses have been largely of highly skilled men with long service in the industry, whereas the gains comprise a large percentage of servicemen who are inexperienced and will have to be trained before production is proportionate to their numerical strength. Shortage of skilled men, particularly bushmen, is partly responsible for the timber shortage, and the output of timber cannot be adequate until there is an ample supply of skilled as well as unskilled labour. The Regional Timber Industry Man-power Advisory Committees continued with the allocation of man-power to the best advantage among sawmills. They also brought to the notice of authorities concerned any causes of discontentment among mill employees With working or living conditions so that, wherever possible, these matters might be remedied. Many requests were made for the withdrawal of the declaration of essentiality on the sawmilling industry and the removal of man-power restrictions, but the unceasing demand for timber for much-needed housing and other vital work and the general shortage of man-power were factors that necessitated continued control. As stated in paragraph 101, however, all man-power controls have been subsequently revoked. Notices issued previously to numerous sawmillers and employees to observe a forty-eight-hour week pursuant to the Industrial Man-power Emergency Regulations 1944 continued in force during the year, but they were modified to allow the working of alternate weeks of forty and forty-eight hours where continuous operation of a forty-eight-hour week was impracticable, and during the winter months Regional Timber Controllers found it necessary in some cases to agree to the working of shorter hours, although every effort was made to maintain some extended working-hours in the bush in order that mills could be operated continuously for at least forty hours a week. The following notices suspended the operation of the forty-eight-hour-week requirement during holidays and permitted workers to take holidays to which they were entitled under the Annual Holidays Act, 1944 : (а) The Sawmilling Industry (Easter Holidays) Notice 1945 (Gazette, 1945, page 293) required every sawmilling undertaking and every employee to continue working until the usual closing time on Wednesday, 28th March, 1945, and to resume not later than the usual commencing time on Wednesday, 4th April, 1945. (б) The King's Birthday, 4th June, 1945, and Labour Day, 22nd October, 1945, were observed as statutory holidays by the sawmilling industry. (c) The Sawmilling Industry (Christmas Holidays) Notice 1945 (Gazette, 1945, page 1497) required every sawmilling undertaking and every employee to continue working until the usual closing time on Wednesday, 19th December, 1945, and to resume not later than the usual commencing time on Thursday, 10th January, 1946. Provision was made in these notices for relaxation or variation to meet individual requirements by consent of the Timber Controller.

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