ELECTION BUDGET

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 52, Issue 3277, 18 June 1943, Page 6

ELECTION BUDGET

MR SUTHERLAND’S OPINION SPEECH IN PARLIAMENT NEW ZEALAND LEADS THE WAY The opinion that it was purely an electioneering Budget was expressed by Mr A. S. Sutherland, M.P., when speaking in the House of Representatives last week. Mr Sutherland said: — “Sir, I wish to comment briefly on the Financial Statement. As the member for Wellington South mentioned yesterday, it is purely an electioneering' Budget. However, the Minister of Finance has done z quite a good job in bringing it down. The estimated war expenditure is £148,000,000, a lot of money for a small country with a population of under one and threequarter millions. Nevertheless, I feel sure that the third Liberty Loan will be over-subscribed, because every New Zealander recognises that we must win this war. Debt to Servicemen “To our men overseas we owe a debt of gratitude. On all the fronts on which they have fought, our men have covered themselves with glory and fame, and have shown the same great fighting qualities their forefathers showed in previous wars. “The Maoris who have fought alongside their pakeha brothers have also covered themselves with glory and fame, and at this point I would like to mention the great deed of Lieutenant Ngarimu, who was recently posthumously awarded the coveted Victoria Cross. That will bring a great glow of satisfaction to the Maori race. We should all be proud of the deeds of our servicemen, but I would like to offer by sympathy to the relatives of those who have fallen by the way. “Now, I would like to refer to pensions. It seems to me that great minds think alike on the matter of raising pensions because the pensions scheme, which the Leader of the Opposition recently unfolded in his policy declaration, just about compares with the one the Minister of Finance has brought down. One might have thought that they had had their heads together. Increase In Pensions “I am pleased to see that pensions for servicemen have been raised. Everyone will agree that the increase was long overdue. When a man goes away to fight for freedom and his country, those remaining at home must see, as the Minister of Finance has stated, that the care of these men on their return is a first charge. “I am hoping that the old soldiers of the 1914-18 war will not be forgotten. Many of those chaps are now: getting on in years and they are burnt out and I hope the Minister will see that they receive the full benefits in the way of war pensions. “I am also pleased to see that that vexed question of attributability has been settled. -Some time ago the Prime Minister mentioned that he had a scheme in mind which he thought would overcome the difficulty; and the scheme that is being put into operation, ‘whereby the onus is placed on the Government and not on the soldier, is a wise one. This is an injustice that our old soldiers have suffered and I am pleased to see that the position is being rectified. I feel sure that the settling of this question will be welcomed by all old soldiers and by the Returned Services Association in particular. Started Fifty Years Ago “General social security benefits are an established fact all over the world, and, as is well known, New Zealand has led the way for the last halfcentury in pensions and humanitarian legislation. The Labour Government cannot take 100 per cent, credit for our pensions and humanitarian benefits. “To the hon. member for Dunedin Central, who yesterday claimed 100 per cent, credit for the Laboui* party in this connection, I would point out that the Laboui’ Government has only expanded the social and pensions system and that many years before some of the members on the opposite benches had landed in this country we had good pension schemes which had been put into operation by previous Governments. « Age Benefits In 1898 “Age benefits were brought in in 1898, 45 years ago. Widows’ pensions were established in 1911, the National Provident Fund in 1909, Maori War pensions in 1912, South African war pensions in 1909, widows’ influenza epidemic pensions in 1918, family allowances in 1926 and miners’ pensions in 1915, the latter being increased in 1920 to £9l per annum. “Labour members are always making an unwarranted attack on the National Party, it being stated that

if the National Party is returned to power it will cancel out all these social security benefits. As I have axready pointed out the Labour Government has only expanded the various benefits, the schemes having been in operation long before some of our Labour friends ever thought of coming to New Zealand.”