81. This report is no place for a general appreciation of the work done by the Colony's welfare agencies; but it would be incomplete if it did not include a generous tribute to the very important part which they already play in the resettlement areas and which they undoubtedly will play in the resettlement estates.
CHAPTER XII
THE WAY AHEAD
82. Wide and sustained publicity was given, during the year under review, to the difficulties and policies and plans described in the earlier chapters of this report. Apart from the responsible newspapers, which in general accepted and supported the need for these unusual measures, the reactions of the public as a whole were disappointingly unconstructive and ill-informed.
83. There was sporadic criticism which appeared to be based on the assumption that resettlement was a sort of welfare measure. A squatter, it was argued, is a refugee and is also by definition an offender, in that he has built, or at least is occupying, an illegal structure, usually on Crown land; possibly all this is due to circumstances beyond the control of the squatter, but surely he need not be singled out for the privilege of resettlement, at considerable expense to the community, when so many long-established residents of the Colony are in urgent need of decent housing at a reasonable rent and of other social services which could perhaps be provided if the cost of resettle- ment could be cut down.
84. These criticism are not difficult to answer. In the first place there is no reason to suppose that the squatter problem bears any direct relation to the refugee problem, though it obviously bears an important indirect relation. The squatter problem is simply one result, out of many, of the housing shortage, just as the refugee problem is simply one cause, out of many, of the housing shortage. By the end of the period
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