UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 410, 19 July 1928, Page 9

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE

Government Allows Labour Member’s Bill to Have Thorough Airing

BOARD TO DIRECT WORKS

( I J:f k. Si. A *' Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON. To-day. PROPOSALS tor the establishment of an unemployment board representing - the Government, local bodies, employers and workers, and empowered to initiate relief works and disburse unemployment pay from a fund created by levies on workers, employers and national revenue were outlined by Mr. P. Fraser when his Unemployed Workers’ Bill came up for second reading this evening.

The point that it was an appropria- { lion Bill was raised- The Prime Min-, j 3 ter, Mr. Coates, said there was no doubt it was an appropriation meas- \ u re, but. the principle enunciated was | an important one. The subject had \ l,een discussed by the Industrial Conference, whose report on it would be received later. He would like to have | the views of members on the subject. 1 and for that reason he would raise no ! objection to the Bill proceeding to the second reading. There being no objections, Mr. Fraser moved the second reading. Ho said the principle of the Bill was desired by the Labour Party throughout the Dominion. The Government had promised to look into the proposal to establish an unemployment insurance fund, but so far he had not heard it had come to any definite decision. There was no mention of it in the Governor-General’s speech, which he regretted. The proposal was to establish a fund, to which workers would contribute one-third, employers onethird and the State one-third. A CHRONIC EVIL This fund would be used to protect workers against inevitable unemployment. He wished to be perfectly frank, and he admitted that even if a Labour Government was in power it would not be able to entirely escape the problem of unemployment. He quoted district statistics to show that in June last there were registered 3,414 unemployed in the Dominion. In addition to these, some 3,922 had been provided with relief work. That served to show the seriousness of the positiou, because it did not include juvenile unemployment. An attempt had been made to secure returns through the labour unions, and those returns showed that 11.5 per cent, of organised labour in the Dominion was unemployed. The figures showed the problem was chronic, and he saw no hope of ridding the country of it, not merely in winter, but also in summer. The Industrial Conference had recommended the appointment of a committee of three to prepare a scheme, and he hoped this would be done. He deprecated the 1 importation of hundreds of British hoys to do farm work when we had unemployed hundreds of our own boys, w|o could be trained as farmers. The main feature of the Bill was not the payment of contributions. to a fund but the setting up of a board ito provide useful work so that the ! I supply of work woulld be commensur- < j ate with the supply of labour. The ' ' scheme was worth trying, and short ) * of a trial lie despaired of anything be- 1 iug accomplished. To benefit by the scheme a worker must have been in 1 New Zealand six months and unemployed for seven days. That would prevent an influx of unemployed from other countries. The amounts of the payments to be made were not stated in the Bill because they had little experience to guide them, and they believed they could produce a better scheme than Queensland, where an unemployment insurance fund had been operating for a number of years. MR COATES ANSWERS CRITICISM Discussion of Mr. Fraser’s Bill gave Mr. Coates the opportunity to answer j criticism of the Government’s Public j Works policy. “To stop development I now,” he said, “would be suicide. The I first idea of some people when depres- j sion comes along is to throw up the j sponge. In spite of criticism of ex-; penditure, my colleagues and I know where we’re going, and the House need have no fear of touching the measures ! already existing to relieve unemployment.” Mr. Coates said that hospital and charitable aid boards. Government relief works and voluntary organisations ! all were helping to assist those up ; against it. The theories initiated by the recent industrial conference might contribute to the permanent, solution of the problem. Unemployment was the most, difficult of all public questions, said Mr. f’oates, and that difficulty was intensified by the fact that some people will let it be known they are out of work aud others will not. He did not wish to criticise the Bill, the principle of which was good, but in detail it was a curious specimen of Labour drafting. The Labour Party was always declaimagainst Order-in-Council, but the Bill simply bristled with things which had to be done by Order-in-Council. STATE DEPARTMENTS So far as the State was concerned, ‘‘I 1 • Coates admitted departments which could absorb unemployed should do so, and they were doing it. About U-00 men had been already employed, of these were on public works, which were being carried on at full because it was wise to do so while there was development work to uo.

would be provided for. He hoped the idea of a “dole” would not be encouraged. Mr. Coates counselled caution in adopting measures which did not take into consideration all economic factors. “Y\ e should be slow but sure rather than so impetuous as to risk mistakes.” he concluded. Mr. M. J. Savage, following Mr. G. W. Forbes and Mr. W. D. Lysnar, emphasised the seriousness of the situation in Auckland, where hospitalboard relief expenditure had increased heavily on last year. The position there could not be much worse, and voluntary organisations were getting tired of carrying the burden. Mr. A. Harris complimented Mr. Fraser on his contributing insurance scheme, which was the most practical contribution yet made toward the solution of the unemployment evil. Such a scheme, he believed, would not cost the State as much as relief works today were costing. Mr. YV. E. Parry dwelt oil the benevolence of the Government in allowing discussion on Mr. Fraser’s Bill. This unexpected latitude, he said, was an election-year concession. The Hons. D. Buddo, O. J. Hawken and Mr. H. E. Holland were the others to contribute to the debate. Provision for unemployment insurance was no longer a subject for speculation, but was one of ascertained facts, said Mr. Fraser, replying to criticism. The second reading was carried on the voices, but no more is likely to be heard of the Bill, as it involves approj priations.

Mr. Coates said New Zealand was better off in the matter of unemployed than most other countries. In Uis opinion unemployment was due to l be falling price of primary products, for New Zealand was a primary Producing country without any great secondary industry. The Bill before lll e House only provided for workers under awards of the Court, no proNl sion being made for men outside awards.

Mr. Fraser said he was prepared to tlle scope of the Bill. . Mr. Coates said if men paid into an insurance fund they logically were enhtled to standard rates of pay if uneniployed. and that would tend to com Plicate the problem. He saw difficulty ln entrusting a board with power to say to the Government or a local body. V D ° this work” or "Don't do that work.” Moreover, it was going to become increasingly difficult to provide useful in the Dominion, and it was dangerous to create an impression art1 °ng men that they need not bustle round and look for work because they