PENSIONS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 106, 6 May 1936, Page 5

PENSIONS.

WAR VETERANS.

HELPING THE AGED.

MINISTER'S PROPOSALS. HOMES TO BE INCLUDED. (By Telegraph.—Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, this day. An important statement as to how the Government hopes to deal with the problem presented by thoee members of the community who through old age, invalidity or other causes, are unable to earn a living for themselves, was made by the Minister of Pensions, the Hon. W. E. Parry, to-day, when replying to a deputation from the South African War Veterans' Association. The Minister said he was not at all enthusiastic about putting old people and war veterans into communal homes. Such people were" entitled to be provided with the means of enjoying a decent standard of comfort, and further they would hd(ve to be considered in relation to tho Government's general housing scheme. There was no reason why they should be left out. The deputation made a request that the Government, by way of an art union, should assist the association to purchase a block of land at Tauranga, on which hutments could be built to house South African war veterans who were unable to care for themselves in the cities. A request was also made that the Government restore the annual grant of £250 to the association. "A Big Problem." The Minister said that, while he was not enthusiastic about the scheme proposed, he did not want the deputation to think that he was entirely opposed to it. The problem of old age was a very big one, and he had given a lot of thought to it. It could not be solved 'by the building of communal homes and by expecting aged people and others to be satisfied. That solution looked a lot better than it worked out in actual practice. It was very difficult to get men to live in close proximity. That applied not only to war veterans but also to all aged people. The only solution of old age was to give men and women an income that would enable them to live decently in the sunset of their lives. It was all very well to talk about palliatives and letting the veterans and aged people produce fruit and vegetables and so on, but there were a number of young people who were looking for the right to produce the things that the old people required. Homes a Permanent Asset.

•So far as the Government's housing scheme was concerned, he saw no reason why it should stop at building real homes for the average man. War veterans and a-jred people were just ae much entitled*tc a home as the average man. The homes that were built for those people would be an asset after the occupants had passed on.

The pension problem alone was tremendous, said the Minister. For instance, if he reduced the age of those eligible for a pension from 65 to 00 years, and increased the pension by 2/6 a week, it would cost £1.000,000. If he gave a pension to the 17,000 it would cost £1,500,000. He quoted those figures to show what the Government was up against. It was all very well to say that the Government should do this and the Government should do that, but the problem was not so easy. He had proposals before him now, and if he was able to put them into operation step by step in the next three years he would be a very happy man.

Mr. Parry promised to consider restoring tho grant of £250 to the association.