FEDERAL PENSIONS

Hokitika Guardian, 4 October 1932, Page 2

FEDERAL PENSIONS

MAKING RELATIVES PAY. WHAT COMPROMISE MEANS. SYDNEY, September 22. In bold'Jy declaring for ithe principle of individual responsibility on the lines of the New Zealand provisions, the Fedteral Government has averted a serious crisis over its pensions .policy—old age and invalid. The Ministry's proposal to cut tile pensions by 2s Gel a week was unpopular in most quarters, for it was held that the pensioners had little enough to live' upon as it was. It was argued that if further sacrifices had to he made there were sections of the community better able to bear them. It has come as a pleasant surprise in official quarters, therefore, to learn that the new provision that near relatives of pensioners must contribute to their support is likely to- work out better for the Government than the reduction in payments. It is now estimated, somewhat to the surprise 0 f the Cabinet itself, that its last minute compromise decision may mean even a larger saving than the £1,100,000 which was to have been saved by the original proposlal. When Cabinet reached the coirl= promise, which appears to be able to all parties no information Was available as to the probable l effect, and the Ministry wits working in the dark. Full information is not available yet, but a preliminary survey shows that the saving to the Government will be substantial, and that it is likely to increase as time goes on. The latest figures show that of every two men reselling the age of 05, and of every two women reaching the age of 00, one becomes an old age pensioner. This position is the climax to a (progressive increase since 1911 in the proportion of pensioners to the population. Thetre are 184,000 old age pensioners to-day, and statistics show that, the number of persons' above the pensions age is approximately 385,000. The proportion of those who reach old age without sufficient to keep themselves is just under half. The number who have near relatives able to maintain them partly or wholly is stated to be very considerable. Detailed information on this point will not be available for a few weeks yet.

The Procedure. Meanwhile the realisation that a new responsibility has been placed upon them is gradually dawning upon tens of thousands of people in. all States. Relatives of pensioners are anxiously enquiring what is of them, but they will very soon know. They will not be required to do anything until they receive notice ‘from the Pensions Department. They will then have to supply a full statement of their financial position, showing their total income’ and the charges they luive to moot from it, Then authorities will decide whether they will have to contribute to the upkeep of their relatives, and how much. The assessments that will he sent out will be for anything from 2s 6d a week to the full amount of 17s 6d. In all cases the amount assessed will be payable to the Government, and not to the pensioner, so there will bfe a guarantee that tlie pensioner will get all that is due to him. In the event of a. refusal to contribute the Pensions Department will have the right to apply to the Court for an order.

Both Victoria and New South Wale? are following the example set by the Federal Government, and in cases where the State is called upon to give assistance relatives will he forced to contribute. Labour supporters have much to say against these plans, and talk of inquisition and unjustifiable interference with the rights of the people, and a putting back of the clock of social progress, hut all these arguments seem to fade against the one that relatives of the wealthy should not he a charge upon the State. The new system is a reversion to the policy that was in force in Victoria many years ago.