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PUBLIC HEALTH BILL

CONTENTIONS OF WAITAKI HOSPITAL BOARD

REPLIED TO BY MINISTER

::The objaations of the Wnitaki Hospital Board to the proposals contained in the Public Health Bill have been reulied .to?jn. the following terms by tho Minister of. Public Health (the' Hon. C. J. •■Parr):- , .

■"K careful perusal of this Bill will show i you that it proposes to provide against that lack of definition as to tho duties of local authorities, hospital boards,-, and tho Department, which was the' subject of comment in the, report of the Royal Commission on the epidemic. Tho hospital board is' to be eliminated, and the administration of health ' measures to bo a matter wholly between local body and Department. That the protection of public health within its district is one of the functions of a local govuniimr. body you will scarcely deny. I am not aware of any self-governing community in tho British .Empire or in America iti which a local govorning body is not entrusted with the sanitary administration, of its district, inclusive of sanitary inspection. . "Your proposition, therefore, seeks to break away lrom existing conditions and from all precedent, and before I could ask Parl'hment to support suoh an unusual measure I should require very much stronger evidence than any you have so far "Been able to give. "Tho Health Bill, then, following tho accepted ideas ''on local government, places on local bodies the duty of providing for sanitary ilnspcation, This is quite clear, and in future there need be none of the dubiety complained of" by tho Royal Commission; but in a country sparsely populated, as is New Zealand, we have 4 to make provision for the fact that many local authorities have to deal pvith largo undeveloped distr'cts in which the provision of highways and bridges must form tho Jiiain part of their functions. a#d must absorb the bulk of their funds. Tn such districts

assiistnnco from the central Government becomes imperative if sanitation is. not to.be wholly neglected. The sanitary needs of such districts are small, but : their neglecl may constitute a danger 'perhaps far-reaching in its effects. To

such districts clause 2t of the Bill would apply. Tho Department would nesiimo the functions of local government—such as they are in such places—but at tho cost of tho local authority. The cost

■ would actually be very small -Ja mast ' cases—possibly £20 or £30 a year—and .would chiefly cover the cost of that portion of an inspector's timo occupied in the district. We certainly encroach on the principles of local government in such cases, but it ife a matter of necessity. ' , ... "Besides th : s, tho Bill maltes a very ;,iinportant provision for assisting local ' authorities in the matter of Inspection, ■ ns you will sea by reference to clause 25, . mib-clause (<i). Indeed, I question whether, had you understood thifc clause, you would have expended so much effort in, nromnlgating your views to the local authorities of New Zealand. "It.is no new thing, for it was first attempted In the Wnnganui and Taranaki districts fifteen years n<?o. and has heeh in .existence in the Waikato and ' ;'Thames districts for the last ten years. In the latter tile Departmental inspectors action behalf of about twenty local ■authorities, only at present a porron of the cost—representing the supervision of ' infectious diseose—is paid through the lev.i&s of the hospital boards. These /..boards, however, engage tho services of :■' the same Departmental inspectors, so (hat the whole work isi done by these •inspectors directlv or indireeflv «t the expense of the local authorities.- The system has worked well, and has resulted in very marked improvement in the sanitary conditions of the .districts of -• there local bodies, some of which may , ■...bo tal-en as a, mode! for, other parts of ..New Zealand. Puchn system the new Bill proposes to simplify and make avail- ■, able. to • any part of New Zealand. I think that th:'>; probably will meet the ,wishes of the local authorities who have endorsed vour circular, except in the matter of cost, which fo far as I can -.father, you consider should fall on tho 'Consolidated Fund. I could not agree that the cost should fnll' on the Department, first, because it is the accepted duty of a local nuthoritv. and second- . Ay, because ;f paid from taxation the country districts ib whit'h the need for "•sanitary inspection, is least would : Vat an eqml share of the burden witli the towns in which tho need for inspection is l Preafest." . The Public FealtL Committee of the JHousp will consider fhe'P'Tl on • Wednesday, and the Waitak'' Hospital' Board "will; be invited to present its case, to . .the committee, ' '' '

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19200907.2.61

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 295, 7 September 1920, Page 6

Word count
Tapeke kupu
774

PUBLIC HEALTH BILL Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 295, 7 September 1920, Page 6

PUBLIC HEALTH BILL Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 295, 7 September 1920, Page 6

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