THE SOCIAL SECURITY BILL

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22484, 19 August 1938, Page 14

THE SOCIAL SECURITY BILL

PRIME MINISTER'S SPEECH

Reply to Opposition Criticism THE FINANCIAL ASPECT "Benefits for Every Contributor" IFroin. • Our Parliamentary, Reporter.] " Wellington; August is. A .reply to Opposition-criticism of j ihe Social Security Bill was made by! the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. M. j J. Savage) during the second reading j debate on the measure in the House j c£. Representatives 'to-night. Mr! Savage dealt at length-with the argu-j rrients put forward on Tuesday night by the Leader of the Opposition (the Hon. Adam Hamilton). "I remember that the Leader of the!

Opposition said that the Minister for

-Finance had had a good innings,” said the Prime Minister. “It was true that the Minister was at the wicket for an hour and three-quarters; but he had something to show for it. The Leader of the Opposition was at the wicket for exactly the same time; but although he carried his bat. it seemed to me that he retired with a duck.” There had been a lot of talk regarding the financing of the proposals, Mr Savage continued. There was only - oneway to get money for superannuation and health services, and that was for the people to combine to provide security for themselves. The Leader of the Opposition had suggested that there must have been headaches in the Cabinet; but there had been no complaints in that direction. Mr C. A. Wilkinson (Tndependent, Egmont): Were there many arguments? “It was also said that it would have been interesting to look into the Government caucus meetings,” Mr Savage continued. “It would not have been nearly as interesting as it would have been to look into the Opposition caucus last Saturday morning. All I would •■-.ask the Opposition is whether they will Jrepeal the legislation if they are .-elected at the next poll. •-.Mr W. JVBroadfoot (National, Waitomo); It’s your responsibility..,.,. Mr Savage: And live up' to it. If the peopld don't want it, they Will, reject us. Mr Broadfoot: You are making it an -issue. ■ v Mr Savage: There are a dozen issues, but this is the biggest of the There had been complaints of delay In the introduction of the Gov- -- «rnment’s proposals, Mr Savage continued. However, while the scheme Was being shaped, the level of pensions had been lifted. The Hon. Adam Hamilton: You ■lifted the cost of living, too. Payments to the Sick Opposition says our hospital the in the^wotld.y'isaid VMr. Savage. *1 agree, but we fiiave l a nehlth insurance. * "This 1 bill provides: it, -together with pay- . meat tb a sick- person whenhe is laid aside.'Tn the past the people have - bad'to go along to hospital boards to ask for a- reduction or. remission of . their fees. I am not blaming the hos- : pital boards. I am blaming the system. “We are-asked what we will do if the .doctors will not co-operate,” the -' Prime-Minister continued. “That is - -.almost • like inciting them to refuse - ,16“ work with us. I have. supported . . organisations in stands which they have taken up in the past, but I have never yet said that any organisation should set itself up as having the- last say. And we are not going to socialise the medical profession. We want the £' doctors be- paid lor ■ the services

~‘l- •which they give. They never- have %. bqen.paid in I.the past. If -we all join’ .4“ together, the doctors can he paid t “without humiliating anybody. J -‘We are making provHon / for better ' distribution,”, said Mr Savage.' ‘/■ -In the past, attention has been paid almost exclusively to production, and; we have penpds of depression because! we have of'»l and£at.#he,~aains.time peopl&rwithdut j- ara doing ou?. i: -‘YiJ /: Jt. j ? r ■* Another Opposition, argujjfent, said: Savage, was that -under r the legis-.

j lation private hospitals would he unI able to continue. -Patients in private ! hospitals would be treated just the 1 same as patients in public hospitals, with the State making the same con- ! tribution from the Social Security j fund. The Government's job was to 1 encourage pi tv ate hospitals to keep ! going, not to close them down. As I for the question of hospital rates, hos- | nitai boards would receive something like 6s a day for each occupied bed. I instead of the present average of about i2s 9d. Surely that additional money r would not put the ratepayer in a worse ' position. | It had been stated that sickness l could not be treated on a mass regiI mentation basis. It was treated that | way now in all public hospitals. Only ! by mass action was it possible to get j the best results. I "They say that we are making provision for a lot of new taxpayers,” Mr ; Savage continued. ‘These people will j be doing more than pay taxes; they i will be getting some benefit out of.it i all the time. Everyone who con- [ tributes will benefit from the health I services. There is no insurance com--1 pany on earth which can give boys : and girls the security which is proi vided for them in this bill. If anyone can produce anything better, we would like to see it. We would want to use it.” The Public Creait | The Opposition was harping on the ! question of finance, said the Prime Minister. He could understand people whi came forward and suggested that something should be done by other means, by the use of the public credit, for instance. With the scheme now before the House, the Opposition would not use the public credit, and it objected to money being found from taxation. "We cannot get security without paying for it,”- said Mr Savage. "One way is to issue the necessary money, and the other is to tax the people. We might do some of each; but the fact remains that we have got to pay. I would like to know how the Opposition is going to find the money for its own scheme, if it can be called a scheme.” Mr Savage was discussing the investigations carried out by the National Health and Superannuation Committee when Mr S. G. Holland (National, Christchurch North) interjected that important witnesses had not been available. “We did not want the head of the Treasury to tell us what our policy should be,” said the Prime Minister. T said the Government’s proposals were going on the Statute Book, because I wanted the committee to operate. not to hold up proceedings.” Mr Holland: There was none of that. “It was done all along the line,” said Mr Savage. “Opposition members did nothing. They did not make a single constructive suggestion. They did not give a hand in shaping the report; but they came along a few days ago with some sort of a minority report of their own. Mr Holland: It was constructive criticism. Mr Savage: It w-as nothing' of the sort. It was just an attempt to s»iow that the Government’s proposals would not work. Health Insurance

Reference to the attitude of the British Medical Association toward an extension of health insurance was made by the Prime Minister, who said that the issue of the “Spectator,” on June 10, had contained a statement by ♦he association regarding the proposals for a general medical. service for the whole of the United Kingdom- The aim was the achievement of positive health, and the prevention of disease t-y the provision for every individual of the services of a general practitioner of his own choice. Consulting, soecialist, laboratory, and auxiliary services were to be available through the agency of the family doctor, and all services were to be co-ordinated and developed under a long-term national health policy. “We can’t be so very, far wrong after VJI,” Mr Savage added. “These are the proposals, of the parent body of the local branch which is opposing our sdheme to-day.” The Leader of the Opposition had talked of a man having to wait until his. one hundred and second birthday to obtain full superannuation under the bill, said Mr Savage. A man of 35 today would get £?8 a year when he was 65, and he would get, it for the rest of his days. That was only part of the story, as he would receive benefits all the time. For a man of 35 to purchase an annuity of £156 at the age of 75 the cost would be £47 4s a year. Under the Government’s scheme, that man earning £?SO a year would have to pay only £l2 10s. ... “I stand or fall by the Governments proposals,” said , the Prime ■ Minister. “Our ..policy,, as expressed .in this bill, is to "help"'the man and woman who are - in need. . • , . Mr Hamilton: That’s not in the bill. You‘ are helping the people who don’t need ib - ! ' Mr Savage: Oh. I am helping ’the rich,' and yo,u are helping the prolet“l dovnpt say the scheme is perfect,” 'Mr JSdlrage? continued. “Itv would'be the first sign of mental ..decay';if I did. W do mot think that-80s - a>week 7 superanmiatfon>,!s enough, especially when ‘there’is.enough of jthe-fe£stifor all of us. It Is the inalienable righrof every person to be secured against distress m any form. It is no use talking about national wealth unless we can use : it for national purposes. Money can only come/from'wew Zealand’s productive sources, and all we wanteto do is to give the people- -whatithey are capable of producing. The money system or those operating the money system will notHhfc. allowed .to stand in the way.” __

THE NEWSPAPERS PRAISED ' PUBLICITY FOR SOCIAL SECURITY BILL PRIME MINISTER’S TRIBUTE [From Our Reporter.] ; . WELLINGTON, August 18. A tribute to the manner in which the. newspapers of the Dominion had given, publicity to the Social Security Bill was paid by the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage) during the second.reading debate oh the bill in the House * of' Representatives to-night. At the start of his speech, Mr Savage said he wished to place on record his appreciation hf the monumental work which had been carried out by the Minister for Finance (the Hon. W. v Nash), who was in charge of the bill. He also wished to make complimentary reference to those who were re- . sponsible for drafting the measure, as he knew something of the problem which they had to face. ‘ “In addition,” said Mr Savage, “I would like to express my warmest thanks to the gentlemen in the press gallery, and to the press itself, for the manner in which it handled the explanation of the Government’s proposals . ' I have never- seenanything like it before. The position for everyone was made absolutely clear, not only because of the matter printed; but also .because of the way in which it was; set out. The newspapers made all the difference between justice and injustice by displaying the material in a readable fashion.” Mr Savage added at the end Of his speech: “I do not know whether I shall always be returning thanks, to the papers; but to thank them on this •occasion is only, ordinary jdecent justice."