Unemployment Bill Will Relieve Rates

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1028, 19 July 1930, Page 10

Unemployment Bill Will Relieve Rates

CLAIM BY MINISTER MR. SAVAGE’S CRITICISM THE SUN'R Parliamentary Reporter WELLINGTON, Friday. The claim that the provisions of the Unemployment Bill would take the burden of local taxation for charitable aid purposes from the shoulders of ratepayers who contributed to the hospital boards was made in the House of Representatives today by the Minister of Railways, the Hon. W. A. Veitch, during the debate on the second reading of the Bill. His argument was combated in a trenchant criticism of the measure by Mr. M. J. Savage (Labour —Auckland West). The ratepayer today, said Mr. Veitch, was largely a working man, for whereas some years ago few working men owned their own homes today thousands did. Mr. E. J. Howard (Labour —Christchurch South): They don’t own them. Mr. Veitch said that the fiat tax would relieve hospital boards to a large extent of the cost of charitable aid. The Bill, he said, did not include females as contributors or recipients of sustenance, although it had been suggested by the Unemployment Committee that this should be carried out. Under the present system of unemployment relief, women did not receive much advantage, and therefore they had not been included in the new scheme. One of the main functions of the Unemployment Board, and one from which one could look for good, sound results, was in regard to promoting primary and secondary industries in the Dominion. There was no feature of national life that could not be included in this function, considered under it. and acted upon. Regarding a question raised by the Leader of the Opposition, tho Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, Mr. Veitch said that it would be quite possible for the board to subsidise wages in certain industries. There was a certain number of men who, through war or other physical disability, were unable to compete with their fellows in the labour market. Industries might be asked by the board to employ these men and the Government, could subsidise their wages so that they could earn a living. These men under ordinary conditions would become a burden on the State and this scheme would give them more independence and save them from developing into neurasthenic cases.

Then, a great deal of work might be done In the organisation and advancement of industries. For example, the boot industry might be taken. This was shockingly unorganised and could be helped to become more efficient. In the opinion of Mr. Savage, tho speecli of the Minister had not helped the Bill. If what Mr. Veitch had claimed about the relief of the burden of taxation on ratepayers were correct, then the burden of relief was merely being taken front the shoulders of the local ratepayers and put on the shoulders of the contributors, who were men mostly-of small incomes. If the work to be provided was to be of a public and economic character, it should be a public charge and not one on the section of the community least able to bear it. The Minister had mentioned subsidising wages. This was objected to, for the contributors had once more to bear a burden which should be the responsibility of the State. The primary object of the Bill was to help those out of work. Yet it proposed to relieve Government departments of their responsibility. Another tribunal was being created which would be saddled today with responsibilities which should be laid ou the Ministers. “It means,” said Mr. Savage, “that we are relieving the Ministers instead of the unemployed ” Regarding Mr. Coates’s claim that he could not discuss the flat tax without knowing the financial proposals contained in the Budget, Mr. Savage said that the flat tax did not have anything to do with the Budget; nor had a graduated tax. which was based upon income or ability to pay. Surely these points could be discussed without having recourse to the Budget. Mr. W. E. Barnard (Labour — Napier): He hasn’t made up his mind about the principle yet. Mr. Savage; Perhaps he hasn’t. The main point, he continued, was the prevention of unemployment, and the provision of socially useful work. Boiled down, it was the duty of Parliament to provide men with a chance to have a home and a decent living. No unemployment insurance system in the world could deal with the underlying causes of unemployment. It was of great importance to the hospital boards of New Zealand to know what was going to be done between now and the start of the levy. Was the Government prepared to anticipate the revenue by advancing money to the hospital boards for the meeting of immediate payments? It was important that a direct answer to that question should be given. At the present time the Government was subsidising the hospitals to an amount equal to £ for £. Why not keep that up under the Bill, and subsidise the efforts of the Unemployment Board to the same amount? Under the Bill the burden was taken from the local taxpayer, and placed on the contributors, and yet the Government, subsidy was less. The Prime Minister, the Hon. G. W. Forbes, said that subsidies to hospital boards would have to be continued. Mr. Savage retorted that that was not so, insofar as able-bodied men were concerned under the Bill. The Government was relieved of its responsibility. Why should it be? What defence was there for the imposition of a flat tax? To imagine that a person receiving 30s a week, and one receiving £30,000 a year, should pay the same amount, and to claim that such treatment was equitable, was to strain one’s imagination. The Minister of Railways: Provision for wealthier people is made in other Government measures. Mr. Savage's reply was that the poor man was paying more than the rich. Surely it was fair that the principle of graduation should he applied in the measure. In these days of science and invention no one knew who would be the next on the scrapheap. Mr. H. T. Armstrong (Labour— Christchurch East), amid laughter: And elections. Mr. Savage was not satisfied with the rate of sustenance, and asked how many members of the House would like to keep a child ou 4s a week. He hoped the unemployment board, by adopting a system of inquiry into the circumstances of each man, would develop into a glorified charitable aid board.