PENSIONS REPORT.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5451, 22 July 1929, Page 3

PENSIONS REPORT.

DISCUSSION IN THE HOUSE. MR. SAMUEL’S CRITICISM. When the Pensions Report came before members in the House of Representatives last week Mi- A. M. Samuel (Thames) spoke on the subect as follows :— “1 should have liked to hear the Minister give some information as to what this report contains, and what legislation the Government proposes to bring down. In the part it was a matter of concern to the honourable gentleman who now holds this portfolio that the Minister of the day did not give the House this information, and I quite expected that on this occasion it’would have been volunteered to us. Apparently the Government is not ready with its legislative programme ; otherwise this paper would not have been presented during the Address-in-Reply debate. On several occasions I have voiced in the House opinions concerning anomalies in the pensions system, and I had hoped that the Minister would have made some statement in respect to the wining out of those anomalies.

- “Pneumoconiosis, or miners’ phthisis, is one of the most dreadful diseases we have in this country, and every. person afflicted, with ir is entitled to sympathy. In my opinion the victims of'this complaint are not adequately provided for by way of pension. In order to receive a pension a man must be totally i x-ipaci-tated for work, and in that case a married man is allowed the princely sum of £1 15s per week, and single man 25s per week. We all know that this is entirely inadequate, in either case. There are also ce-tain anomalies in connection with the payment of this small amount. One of these concerns the payment at the death -of a miner’s phthisis pensioner.. A miner’s phthisis pensioner, if he dies on the first of the month after the due date of payment of his pension, then his wife and family not suffer to any great extent; but if he lives for three weeks and six days after t.he due date of payment, then the wife and family suffer to the extent of the 26 or 27 days. I have always been of the opinion that a pension has been paid in lieu of wages, that it is in lieu of salary or money earned ; and there is no employer in this country who would dare to pay his employee wages for one month when he is entitled to one month and 27 days. The law of this land would not permit it, and I submit to the Government that is a glaring anomaly in the Pensions Act never intended by members of toe Legislature, and that the Minister should have intimated that that, would have been one of his first jobs— to wipe out that anomaly. The Minister himself is in favour of it,- and we know that this alteration of the law is a matter of great urgency. What about the food of the family for the 27 days that the pension has not been paid ? That food supply has been obtained, and the pension payable has been anticipated and spent. It has been spent in necessaries. That money as a matter of right should certainly be paid. I Wish, therefore, to ask the Minister if this problem has been considered ; has this anomally been looked at in its true perspective ? and, if so, has the Minister any* intention of rectifying it this session ? I know the Minister is a very sympathetic and kind-hearted man, especially where pensioners are concerned. I ask him, therefore, is he going to introduce this legislation, or has the talk of the past been only hot air or lip service, or talk indulged' in for mere party purposes ? However, he will have his opportunity very soon of telling the country exactly where he stands on this vital question, so far as the poorer people of this country are concerned. “Another pension I would like to refer to briefly, and that is one concerning a woman with an invalid husbands Questions have been put on the Order Paper from time to time con-« cerning the matter, and every one of us is of opinion that this is a pension that should be provided. There are many pathetic instances in this coutry of women who have on thenhands invalid husbands, husband? who are unprovided, for by the economic laws of the country, husbands who do -not come under the Workers’ Compensation Act, who, by accident or sickness are laid aside and have become a total burden upon their wives. This is a case which is entirely different from that of the widow’s pension. If a woman is unfortunate enough to lose her husband she is infinitely better off under the pension laws of this country, because she then draws a pension to support herself and family, whereas if she is in the more unfortunate position of having a sick husband she has nd redress under the pensions laws. I trust, therefore, that these cases will be immediately inquired into and, together with the other necessary alterations in the Pensions Act, be promptly attended to by the Government of the country.

“I know of one case, of a woman whose husband was a Public Works Department employee and was laid aside for twelve months by an accident which was not attributable to his employment. At least so the medical board said, but afterwards it was proved more or less that his employment did have a great bearing on the matter. The man was laid up for twelve months, and for the first six months the family was in dire distress. He did not know the proper procedure to adopt, and the time limit allowed had passed before he put in his application to the Government for redress. The result was that he was a charge upon his wife for twelve months, and I can assure members that it was a most distressing case. The liability was eventually recognised by the Government, and a position was found for him. I am sure that the taxpayers of this country would not object in any shape or form to pensions'legislation of this kind, and I do not care what the state of the country may be, or how financially embarrassed it may be, this is a

pensions reform that should receive the earnest attention and sympathetic consideration not only of the country, but also of the Government of the Dominion, and I am sure that this reform will be brought about. We all know very well that there are lots of women similarly placed, but they are women who shrink from publicity. They would, sooner suffer in silence than bring their eases into the full glare of publicity. There are cases that I know of myself that the country should be positively ashamed of, ■""'I I trust that this repoach to our htr. 'anitarian legislation will speedily de mz away with. ‘‘l vish to refei to one other aspect of the miners’ phthisis question, and that is where there is a conflict of medical opinion in regard to such cases. We have instances of applicants for relief under the .Act who have appeared before the Government Medical Board and have been turned down. I am not going to suggest breast any reflectios upon the medical boards set up to consider these cases, but I will say that a lot of them carry out their work by role of thumb ; am! they also depend too much upon theories which have been propounded, not in New Zealand, but in othercountries. The applicant is medical'y examined, and he may have some other complaint besides pneumoconiosis, and he receives a certificate to the effect that his application for a pension is refused because his disability is not due to miners’ phthisis. If this refusal stated definitely that the man was not afflicted with this dire disease, then he would be satisfied. If he was told definitely that he was clear of it he would be able to follow his usual avocation and go underground and work for a living without any fear of impending death, which alway: follows, I may say, on an at-•.-.ek of pneumoconiosis. I know the Minister is sympathetic as far as this is concerned, and I am not going to say that he has refused the setting u-i of an independent medical board. As a matter of fact, two years ago I insisted that in these cases an independent medical board should be set up to go into the matter, and that was done ; but what I want to impress on the Minister is the necessity of having available the evidece of the local medical practitioners—men who have been concerned with this disease all their lives and know the symptoms and can diagnose the cases from a practical point of view. Their evidence should be taken as a concrete basis. In the past the evidence of these men has been sent along and has been totally disregarded. I know of several distressing cases where the medical board, which is set up by the Government, has simply said the man was not suffering from the disease or his total incapacity was not due to miners’ phthisis ; and before he can draw a pension at all he must be totally incapacitated for work. He may not be able to do any other work, an 1 because his total incapacity is not, in the opinion of the board, due to the disease, he is refused a pension, the result being that he cannot work. And if he has no other resources he is usually a charge upon the charitable institutions of the country, and has to accept this form of relief when he should be entitled to an honourable pension.,, I would ask the Minister that it be a recommendation to those medical boards that the evidence of men thoroughly qualified to give an opinion—the local doctors—should be taken into account when coming to a final decision as to the attributability of this frightful disease.

“I am not going to touch to any great extent upon the necessity for an increase in the old-age pensions, or the pensions for the blind, or in our pensions system generally, because I feel certain that it is entirely unnecessary to raise the, question. We have only to look at last year’s Han - sard and we will see that the Ministers now on the front benches voted for an increase in pensions. Having voted for the increase, I feel certain that they are in duty bound to bring down legislation to give effect to the sentiments they expressed on that occasion. I consider that the time is now opportune for the introduction of that legislation. “I wish to say a few words in regard to our old-age pensions system, and the disqualifications which are being imposed upon our old-age pensioners if they are possessed of a little property. An old-age pension is the reward for services ; it is just the same as superannuation in the Public Service. As a matter of fact, it is an insurance policy against old-age and against necessity. I would suggest that the old-age pension is an endowment policy against old age, that the old-age pensioner, through the work he has done for his country up to the time of his reaching 65 years of age, has paid premiums on an insurance policy which wiP provide an endowment for him in his old age; and if he has been thrifty during the years of his work he should not be penalised on that account. I consider’ that he is entitled to the full payment of that insurance policy.

“Another’ matter that has been discussed on many occasions in this House is that of reciprocity between Australia, Great Britain, and New Zealand. It is one that I have brought up on previous occasions, and I cannot let this opportunity go by without once again referring to it. I do not think any British subject will deny the responsibility of any one of the component parts of the Empire, so far as these old people are concerned. Britain wants us to help absorb her surplus population, and when we have been in the position we have done so, and I trust we shall be able to do so again in the future. Then I say that Britain should bear her share of the cost of old-age pensions for the people who come to this country under those conditions. We are all citizens of the Empire, and it should not make the slightest difference whether we live in Great Britain or in Australia or New Zealand when it comes to qualifying for the old-age pension. A bounden duty devolves upon every part of the Empire to see that this is done. I sincerely trust that the communications which have been passing

between the Home Country and this Dominion will result in a decision favourable to the old people of the Empire. I think that the Rt. Hon. Mr Amery, when he was Secretary of State for the Dominions, definitely stated that in his opinion Great Britain was willing to become a part to such an arrangement. If Great Britain is willing, then New Zealand should get to work and institute legislation to bring about this change in so far as this Dominion is concerned. I feel sure that if Australia, Canada, and other British Dominions were approached in the right spirit they would freely co-operate.

“Before resuming my seat I would like to refer to returned soldiers' pensions. Very many returned soldiers are feeling the after-effects of the war which have not become apparent until recently. The Minister of Justice knows that there are scores of cases where attributality cannot be definitely placed upon war causes. Many such cases must come under his notice. There is ample evalence that chest complaints are due to gas poisoning, ad yet there is no legislative authority under which the Minister can grant relief in such cases. I suggest that legislation be enacted at the earliest possible moment to meet this situation. I say that these cases are deserving of special attention ; that when a returned soldier develops an ailment that can in the slightest degree be attributed to war causes, that soldier should be entitled to the fullest possible consideration. I would like to ask the Minister whether some conference could be arranged between his department or the Government and the Returned Soldiers’ Association of New Zealand so that everyone who is labouring under handicaps such as I have stated will have a chance of receiving justice at the hands of the country for which they fought.” ______