SYMPATHETIC MINISTER

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 75, 23 May 1944, Page 5

SYMPATHETIC MINISTER

HOSPITAL RATING SYSTEM TOWN AND COUNTRY DELEGATES GROWING TAXATION LOAD Delegates from the Whakatane County Council, Borough Council and the Hospital Board: attended a conference with the Minister for Health, Hon. A. H. Nordmeyer, last Tuesday evening, for the purpose of express- : ing their problems witfh regard l to the growing incidence of hospital taxation andl of seeking if possible some degree of official reassurance that the State would be prepared to take measures that would relieve and alleviate the burden on the 1 ratepayers. The Minister gave all speakers the most sympathetic hearing • and promised the fullest consideration by the State in the face „ of what was generally acknowledged to be a major problems A formal welcome was extended 'l>y the Mayor, Mr B. S. Barry, by Mr W. Sullivan, M.P., and by Mr •J. L. Burnett, Chairman of the iWhakatanc County Council. Setting out the difficulties of the County ratepayers, Mr Burnett said that for years past meetings and of local bodies, had been lield passing resolutions which asked that the incidence in Hospital mating be altered to a fairer and broader basis. In spite of official promises nothing had ever been done and the ratepayers were most disappointed. Two years ago a conference of Bay of Plenty local bodies with Rotorua had asked for a Government subsidy of £2 for £1 for ordinal hospital maintenance plus the ordinary Social Security allocation per bed. This had been promised but never implemented. The Rate Increase Some idea of the growth of hospital taxation could be guaged from •tilt' following rates which been struck in the Whakatane County" over the past eight years: 1935, l-3rd pence; 1938, %d; 1937, %d; 1938, : %d; 1939, Id; 1940, l%d; 1941, l%d; 1942, l%d; 1943, l%tl. The new hospital loan would in all probability lift it to 2d. From these figures the Minister could gather the size of the burden which was being carried by the man on the land.

No one would object to the desire of everybody Avho Avas indisposed seeking hospital treatment ,since the Introduction of Social Security, but "the growing expense should not be thrown upon only one section of the •community. The service should be nationally controlled, particularly since the franchise had been extended to all electors. He had no objection to that providing all Avho voted contributed on an equal footing.

By asking the. County candidates i;o refuse to strike a Hospital rate, the Farmers Union were putting their prospective, members in an invidious position. They were asking them to do something illegal. However he fully understood what was ■hol-ilml Hin itiftw. Tlip. frmnprs had

jDeninu me move, ine larmers nau simply lost patience. If tha farmer were more satisfied regarding this • question he would be devoting whole heartedly towards much-needed war production. Position in Borough Mr Barry said that the same position regarding rising taxation occurred fn the town. Where the Hospital -"ate. bade fair to eclipse the ;general rate itself unless something were done. He too would like to see the hospitals made a national undertaking. In his opinion the ratepayer should not expect to be ■entirely free from taxation but at least it ought to be pegged at the level when the Social Security .scheme was first introduced. He suggested that the drastic shortage -of medical practitioners could lie offset to a very great tlegree by the -appointment of District Nurses. Mr W. Sullivan said that since 1938 the total amount levied by local bodies for hospital maintenance in the Dominion, had risen from £822,000 to just under £1,500,000. That . increase had been thrown directly upon the primary producers and while he did not altogether agree with the action sponsored by the Farmers' Union it was simply the outcome of a desperate desire, to solve the problem and force the issue. While the present system obtained it went on cancelling out, bit by bit the equity and enterprise of our primary producers. He would like to see a thorough investigation of the whole taxation question, by a Royal Commission. It would not matter in future what Government was in office, it would then have a guide for its administration which would be perfectly free from bias of any kind. National Dissatisfaction Mr A. J. Canning agreed that the Minister had a most difficult role to play as the ratepayers were crying from the Bluff to the Cape about -the growing rates for hospitals. (Continued in next column)

Mr Butler pointed out the special difficulties of Whakatanc with its large native population, the majority of whom were non-ratepayers and who yet supplied the bulk of the patients in the hospital. No New Thing Local taxation for hospital purposes was no new thing, declared the Hon. A. H. Nordmeyer, when replying to the various speakers. It had been instituted long before the Labour Party came , into office. Since Social Security however there had been a fairly universal protest urging the Government to take over the hospitals and administrate them. No one would deny that the service had had some effect upon hospital accommodation but it had to be remembered that before Social Security, the average Hospital Board received only 2/10 per occupied bed per days whereas Labour had fixed the. amount at fi/-. Further a proposal of his that the Government take over the whole of hospital capital expenditure was rejected by the "HospitaT "Boarcis Association in favour of increasing the Social Security levy per bed from 6/- to 9/ which had been done. In how many Hospital Boards in the Dominion would 9/- per bed be collected normallyvery few ! A Varying Cost He did not seek to justify a service which in one district cost l-3d in the £ and in another Bd. The question arose as to the. most, practical method of meeting the situation and this the Government would be prepared to do. No candidate for local body election would be prepared to give an undertaking not to l'evy a hospital rate., if he but considered that, the rate would be collected in any case as it was the law of the land. He hoped all candidates would be judged on their merits and not on whether or not they stood for a threat.

He appreciated the fact that Whakatane's big Maori population made for many problems which would not be easy to overcome. If however as some people wished the Hospital rate were abolished the money would have to be found from some other source and would inevitably be from the people's pockets. Some seemed to think it would come from the. clouds. It appeared that Whakatane's rate was a relatively high one and if it were possible to assist in stabilising it, the Government would do so. District Nurses He did not agree with Mr Sullivan's suggestion that a "Commission should be set up to investigate the rating question. Whatever its findings, they would have to be finally implimented by Parliament. He agreed that the appointment of District Nurses would do much to relieve the position, but the great difficulty at present was that they were needed in the Armed Forces. The great question was one of. taxation. While it was possible for the country to find 36 millions for war purposes, it should be possible to divest this in part towards social services when the war declined. Undoubtedly Wha'katane had an unduly heavy burden to carry owing to its native problem and he would be pleased to see if it were possible for the Government to assist by every reasonable means. Mr Burnett in extending thanks asked the. Minister to take the points raised down to Wellington for consideration by his colleagues in the interests of the primary producers.' "It is a good thing for us to get together," declared the Minister in conclusion. "We can then table our problems and 1 discuss them. We should not always be shooting at each other hundred's of miles apart. These conferences are good for democracy."