EMPLOYMENT.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 91, 17 April 1936, Page 9

EMPLOYMENT.

LABOUR'S POLICY. new bill debated. CI\IE CENTRAL DEPARTMENT. SUSTENANCE BATE INCREASE. (By Telegraph.—Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, Thursday. The statement that the Government's aim was the permanent rehabilitation of the unemployed was made by the Minister of Labour, Mr. Armstrong, in moving to-night in the House of Representatives the second reading of the Employment Promotion Bill. The Minister said that with the changes that would be brought about by the Bureau of Industry he was satisfied that in the near future a good percentage of those men now on sustenance would find themselves back in industry where they rightly belonged. Ho also intimated that there was to be no increase in the unemployment tax at present, and that if sufficient money was not forthcoming from the employment fund other financial arrangements would be made. He hoped in the near future to announce a substantial increase in sustenance rates and in pay for relief workers.

At the outset the Minister explained {hat the provisions of the bill were in line with the policy advocated by the Labour party prior to coming into office. He was one of those who .had contended ever since the Unemployment Board came into existence that the board or a separate Department to deal with unemployment was quite unnecessary, because they had in existence a Department well equipped to meet the situation. He had contended that the job could be done just as economically by the Labour Department and as efficiently if not more efficiently than it .had been carried on by the "board. The Minister said lie was not going to say anything about the members of the board. Since he came into office he had received wholehearted and full co-operation from all concerned. At the same time that did

not alter his point of view and his •.letermination to take final and complete responsibility as Minister of Labour for the administration of unemployment. The Minister said the Government ivas laying down in the bill machinery that would enable it to do better in the future. They had already done a great ileal towards relieving the situation of a number of those who had been carrying the burden of unemployment. He instanced the Government's action in giving country relief workers the same payment as city workers. Mr. Forbes: Can you tell us the cost of that? The Minister: £3000 a- week or £150,000 per annum. He added that no matter how much it cost, it was only fair and reasonable that the same rate should be paid. Relief Work not the Solution. Mr. Armstrong went on to say that neither relief work nor sustenance was going to solve the unemployment problem. The Government's aim must be permanent rehabilitation, and to that point the Government had been giving most of its attention since it came into office. The bill would abolish the Unemployment Board altogether, but there would be no sense in removing the driving wheel until they had something else to put in its place. The Government, said the Minister,, was carrying out investigations in regard to the development of secondary industries. He was not going to say that nothing had been done by the past administration. The Bureau of Industries had been brought into operation before La-bour became the Government, and they were carrying on work of the bureau perhaps more vigorously than had been the case hitherto. There had not been time to bring about any revolutionary changes yet, but he was satisfied that in the near future a very good percentage of those who were on sustenance would find themselves back in industry. Another object of the bill, he said, was to bring about the consolidation of statutes dealing with unemployment. Although the original Act had been passed as recently as 1930, it was necessary to examine eight different Acts to ascertain exactly where one stood. Dealing with work in the country, the Minister said that there had been a time when it was difficult to get young men to go out into the country, because it was not economically possible for them to do so. He was not going to force any man to go out into the country until there were decent conditions and a decent standard of pay. Taxation for Unemployment. The Minister said there had been some speculation as to whether the unemployment tax was going to be abolished altogether, or whether it was going to be increased. When he came into office the unemployment taxation from all sources was bringing in about £62,000 per week, and the expenditure was about £100,000 a week. The present Government had increased the expenditure without increasing the tax. Duriug the election campaign they had heard a lot about doing away with No. •» scheme and putting men to work at standard rates of pay. Thousands of men were put on at standard rates, with the result that the expenditure was nearly double the revenue.. As a result the reserves were used up, but the pre- >'-• i) t Government had kept then! on. -'ithough the expenditure was con-

siderably more tlian the revenue, it was not the present intention of the Government to inerease the unemployment tax, which would remain at 8d in the £. He knew it would be asked where was the Government heading? Where was the money to come from? He hoped in the near future to be able to announce a substantial increase in sustenance rates and in pay for relief workers. If the money was not forthcoming from the unemployment fund, the Government was going to make other financial arrangements. He had that undertaking from the Government, and he believed it would keep its word. He was going on with the job in the meantime. Mr. Broadfoot (National, Waitomo): You are a good spender. Sustenance for Women. Dealing with sustenance for unemployed women, the Minister, said the Government had empowered women's committees sot up by the previous Government to pay unemployed women 10/ a week, plus 4/ allowance, towards the rent of a room, and in addition to supply them with all meals. The Minister quoted figures to show that there were at the latest returns a total of 52,657 on the unemployed register, but a large number were on full pay. At the end of the last financial year there was a small cash balance in the unemployment fund. During the coming year it was estimated that revenue wou'.d amount to £3,000,000, and that would fall a long way short of the requirements.