Dusty answer on pay for study leave

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32636, 18 June 1971, Page 8

Dusty answer on pay for study leave

The Prime Minister has not given an acceptable reason for the.jefusal by the State Services Commission to gAmt leayg.en pay to Mr Arapeta Orme while he studies abroad on a Winston Churchill Fellowship. No-one who appreciates the purposes of the Churchill award could be satisfied by the explanation given by Sir Keith Holyoake in the House of Representatives. Nor will any taxpayer who has seen the State grant leave on pay to employees selected to tour with national sports teams be content with the State Services Commission’s interpretation of its rules in respect of Mr Orme. Mr Orme’s proposed study of race relations perfectly fits one of the purposes of the award—- “ the benefit in general of New Zealand ” —to which Sir Keith Holyoake and other members of the Government have often drawn public attention. Other employers have willingly paid employees who have earned the distinction of being selected as Churchill Fellows—and no doubt most have been proud to do so. It is quite unreasonable for the State to interpret its rules so narrowly as to exempt itself from paying Mr Orme while he is on leave.