COMPLAINT BY MR KIRK

Press, Volume C, Issue 29582, 3 August 1961, Page 17

COMPLAINT BY MR KIRK

Explanation Bv Minister (Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON. August 2. A complaint by Mr N. E. Kirk (Opposition. Lyttelton) that a Government member had received a different Ministerial reply from one he had received—concerning an inouiry made by him on behalf of a constituent—was answered in Parliament today by the Minister of Health (Mr Shelton). “As Minister of Social Security and Minister for the Welfare of Women and Children, I receive many representations about the individual circumstances of persons in New Zealand,” said Mr Shelton. “All these receive my personal consideration. irrespective of who makes them. “Personal Circumstances” “As these representations concern personal circumstances, I do not feel that I should divulge to any other person that representations have been made to me by, or on behalf of, a particular person. “In this case, the person concerned saw fit tp approach a Government member before approaching her own member of Parliament, which would indicate that the person wished to keep her representations confidential. “The information given to both the member for St. Albans and the member for Lyttelton concerning this case is substantially the same,’ Mr Shelton said.