MINERS’ PHTHISIS
INCREASED PENSIONS •UW;: ' '’ PROPOSED.
WELLINGTON, Nov, * 6,-
Proposals for a wider definition of the--term miners’ phthisis have been drafted and will be embodied in the Finance Bill, to be brought down shortly. This, announcement was made by the Minister for Mines (the Hon. Mr Veitch) iri the House of Representatives to-day. rsaid .rite was ..feeqgijised that the definitioin of miners’ phthisis u;as.:l ifot • enough., There were..a nuxfibferfbf men who were actually suffering from the disease, but ywere mot enjoying - theyhenefits of the pension. Provision would also be made in the Bill for strengthening ’the ;fiiiancia.| side iifi certain direotiohsiJiiot nearly* as> faf- as he would like to go, not nearly as far as the Government would like to go, but as far as-dt was prudent to go in the meantime.
; The Minister added that it could not be emphasised too nnicli that a miner’s phthisis pension was entirely different from every other pension. In the case of a. returned soldier, for example, there were different grades of incapacity, hut in the case of the miner the incapacity was absolute and complete. A man suffering from miners’ phthisis was not only unable to earn money, hut was forbidden to work while in receipt of a pension. That fact should he kept in the forefront when the question was being discussed.-. The House would have an opportunity to go into the matter before the session ended.
The .i.tspimdn . that-, the;, miners’ phthisis pension should be increased was expressed by the Goldfields and Mines Committee in a report pre.se.nt--ed- The present pension is 35s a week in the case of a married man or a widower with children under 14 years of age, and 25s in the case of an unmarried man. Those rates the Committee considered inadequate. It was also recommended that the existing legislation should be reviewed' with the object of lemoving certain anomalies. The Committee also recommended that the Government should investigate the question of annual X-ray examination with a view to further safeguarding the health and lives of those engaged in the mining industry of New Zealand. The Committee’s report found general favour among members representing mining constituencies. (
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Hokitika Guardian, 8 November 1929, Page 6
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361MINERS’ PHTHISIS Hokitika Guardian, 8 November 1929, Page 6
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