"SYSTEM IS WRONG."

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 143, 19 June 1930, Page 20

"SYSTEM IS WRONG."

OLD AGE PENSIONING.

"POVERTY THE BASIS."

LABOUR MEMBER'S VIEWS,

"If the life of the average working man has been given in the service of the State, when the working days of his life are past, he should be rewarded for the service by his country." declared Mr. W. E. Parry, Labour member of Parliament for Auckland Central, addressing a gathering of old age pensioners at the Trades Hall yesterday afternoon. The whole system of the Pensions Act was wrong, said Mr. Parry. The present basis sof payment was poverty. Old people had to be "down and out" before their claims were recognised. The Labour party thought that the claim should be that of citizenship, and if the requisite number of years had been given in service to the State, the payment of a pension should be automatic. "Moreover," said Mr) Parry, "I object to the term 'pension.' It should be something like 'national superannuation,'" and the granting ought to be a matter of course. Police Visits Insulting. Another objection his party had to the system was the visits paid to the homes of the old people by the police for the purposes of obtaining information about pension matters. "The practice," •he said, "is •" ,r -ml' ' "Repulsive," said a voice from the hall. "That is the word," Mr. Parry rejoined. "It is not only grossly unfair to our aged, but it is also positively insulting. I'm sure the police don't like it. "There is another serious fault in thepresent, method. No means of reciprocal payment of pensions exists for those who were receiving a pension in the Old Country, and who come out to the Dominion. When they arrive here their allowance from England is stopped, and they are entitled to receive nothing in their new home. Surely those who deserved a>pension at Home deserve one in New Zealand. The Government in England should set aside a sum sufficient to cover the pensions of those who ■ leave Great Britain to go to other parts of the Empire, and should transfer, that amount to the Government of whatever country they intend living in."

1 Mr. Parry, declared emphatically that his party was doing all in its power to have the amount of the pension increased to 25/, and was looking after the interests of 1 the aged generally. He considered the movement had the sympathy of the House of Representatives. He also advocated that the Wind be-treated in' •the same manner as he desired for-the old age)' pensioners. "The' reconstruction of the pension system will take time " Mr. - Parry stated, "but Just as soon as we have a Government in power chich is sympathetic to reform in that direction, the policy will be reconstructed." That' a nation does all it can for its aged is the fast test of its greatness. Let its people he contented, and there is little which can shake, it."