UNEMPLOYMENT BILL

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

UNEMPLOYMENT BILL

MINISTER’S OUTLINE GOVERNMENT’S CONTRIBUTIONS Press Association PARLIAMENT BLDGS., Friday. Moving the second reading o£ the Unemployment Bill in the House ol Representatives today the Minister o£ Labour, the Hon. S. G. Smith, said it was based on the Government’s investigation o£ the report o£ the Unemployment Committee. He paid a tribute to the work o£ that committee. Elaborating on the outline of the Bill that he gave when it was introduced, Mr. Smith said the Government subsidy would amount to one-half o£ the expenditure under the Bill and would not be based on contributions. The levy o£ 30s would be payable quarterly.

Replying to an interjection from Mr. H. E. Holland, Leader of the Labour Party, Mr. Smith said £500,000 would be raised by means of the levy which would be paid through the post office. It was provided that every male person over 20 years should be registered and he would be provided witn a book bearing a record of every payment made. The Unemployment Committee’s report had recommended that the unemployment board should be almost free from Parliamentary control, but the Government did not agree with this point of view and it was for that reason that the board of six recommended by the committee had been increased in number to eight to provide for the inclusion of two members appointed by the Minister. It was believed that the board could undertake the work of rehabilitation of disabled returned soldiers and for that reason provision was made made for the representation of returned soldiers. VOCATIONAL TRAINING Referring to the subsidising functions of the board, Mr. Smith said that from his own personal experience he did not think it would be an insuperable difficulty for the board to arrange with technical schools for vocational training as a means of finding employment. The provision enabling the making of grants or loans for developmental works calculated to relieve unemployment was important because it would in approved cases enable farmers to employ workers advantageously to all parties. Mi-. Smith said it was important to note in connection with the susten- ; ance clause that no payments would be made until a person had been unemployed 14 days and would not be continued for more than 13 consecutive weeks. It would not be continued, moreover, in the event of any person refusing to accept suitable work.

In conclusion, Mr. Smith said the measure was in accordance with the Government’s policy. Criticism would be welcomed and he hoped it would be in the direction of suggesting changes that would be of benefit to the Bill.

MEMBERS’ OPINIONS

COMMENTS AND ADVICE Press Association WELLINGTON, Friday. | The debate on the second reading !of the Unemployment Bill was com* j rnenced in the House of Representatives today. After the Minister of Labour, the I lion. S. G. Smith, had explained various provisions of the Bill, he was followed by the Leader of the Opposition, the Right Hon. J. G. Coates, and the Leader of the Labour Party, Mr. H. E. Holland. The Hon. W. A. Veitch, Minister of Railways, submitted that the principles adopted in the scheme under consideration were infinitely superior to those in operation in Britain. In Britain, unemployment was treated as an industrial problem, whereas it was a social problem. Wealthy people who did not employ labour should not be permitted to escape contributing to the scheme. The principle in the present Bill was to endeavour to spread the cost equitably over all sections of the community. The financial proposals of the Government provided for the raising of the Consolidated Fund’s share of contributions by the ordinary methods of taxation. It was not intended to spend a great sum of money on sustenance, which was only to meet cases of dire distress. The reason why returned soldiers’ vocational training was included in the measure was that disablement extended beyond returned soldiers, and it would be foolish to establish two separate organisations to cope with two similar problems, namely, disabled soldiers and other disabled workers.

Mr. W. A. Bodkin (United—Central Otago) said the most important function that would be assumed under the measure would be the provision of work. Payment of sustenance was onlv to be regarded as a last resort. There was no loss of dignity to workers as far as the sustenance provisions were concerned, but it was the policy of the Government to discourage calls on sustenance allowances and endeavour to spend all the money at the board’s disposal in creating work. Mr. W. D. Lysnar (Reform—Gisborne), said he had no misgivings about the Bill as it stood at present but ho was afraid of what it might eventually become if the Government were stampeded by the extreme Labour Party. He urged the Government to stand fast by the original Bill. He agreed that it was only a palliative and that unemployment would never vanish until the country struck at the root causes. He considered unemplov. ment throughout the world was due to primary producers not getting value for their goods. Mr W. Nash (Labour—Hu tt) urged the Government to make available to women whatever benefits there wer~ to be derived from an unemployment insurance scheme. He advocated a graduated scale of contributions. Mr. C H. Clinkard (United—Rotolua) said it would have been better to have caHed the measure “Employment and Unemployment Bill.” for while it made some provision for the unemployed, its main function was employment. With reference to the contributions, he submitted that it had to would be the benefici tMt thrv d lt S°v ld usuall J be found that the} would bo men on the lowest e , consi *ered that the flat rate, although not perfect, was the fairest possible. The Rev. C. L. Carr (Labour—stressed the importance of he , n £ me of the board to Employment Board, because should the time come when there was no more unemployment the board could continue in existence and assist in the oiganisation and development of industnes. He supported the plea for giaduated contributions on tho basis ?f,f^ >1 3’ty to pay. He thought the Min- . er flight have included some provision for reduced hours of labour in accordance with the modern trend. -The debate was interrupted bv the adjournment, and the House rose at -5.30 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday.