CIVILIANS AND WAR

Wairarapa Times-Age, 3 July 1942, Page 6

CIVILIANS AND WAR

PROVISIONS OF PENSIONS IN CASE OF INJURY OR DEATH. REGULATIONS GAZETTED. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. Provision lor civilians disabled by war action and for dependants of those killed by such action is made in the War Injuries to Civilians Emergency Regulations issued with last night’s Gazette. The regulations provide for payment of pensions to civilians or a civilian’s dependants where death or disablement is caused by direct result of enemy action, or sustained in an attempt to combat the enemy or in activities taken with intent to repel an imagined attack by the enemy- ’ ~ ,• , r Injuries may result from the discharge ol any missile (including liquids and gas), the use of any weapon, explosive or other noxious thing, or the doing of any injurious act, or through being struck by aircraft or anything dropped from aircraft. Aircraft includes an enemy or friendly machine. The provision of pensions is limited in that a person whose earnings or ability to earn are not affected cannot claim a pension. Pensions, which are to be paid out of the Public Account and administered by the Social Security Commission, are as follows:— Widow without children, £7B per annum, widow with children, £lO4, plus £26 for each child. The pension will be reduced pound for pound of the widow’s income in excess of £lO4 a year, and the pension for children ceases at the age of 16 and for a widow on remarriage. For total disablement a pension of £52 a year is provided for those under 21 without dependants, the maximum income allowed without reductions being .£lO4. In other cases- the pension is £lO4 for a personal claim, £52 for a wife, and £26 for each child. Where disablement is partial the amount of the pension is to be decided by the Social Security Commission. The pension may be refused to a person of notoriously bad character. A right of appeal is provided for in cases where a pension is refused.