GRANT OF $l0,000 Marylands prior disappointed

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33067, 7 November 1972, Page 2

GRANT OF $l0,000 Marylands prior disappointed

The prior of Marylands (Brother R. Moloney) said yesterday the latest Government offer of help (a grant of $10,000) would enable the work to be continued on a day-to-day basis. “But in the end it will be the children who will suffer because of money,” he said.

He said he was very disappointed that the urgent maintenance programme already documented by a Government officer had not received any consideration.

“Sooner or later, health or fire authorities will refuse to renew the licence for the home, and that will be the end,” he said. Brother Moloney said he had relayed the latest information to his superiors in Sydney, and they had also expressed disappointment The Government has approved an immediate grant of up to $lO,OOO to help meet any deficit on this years running costs. Next year, the school will receive a further grant of up to $20,000 on the same basis. The assistance was announced in a joint statement by the Minister of Health (Mr Adams - Schneider) and the Minister of Education (Mr Pickering). Wellington meeting The assistance had been decided after a meeting between officers of the Department of Health and the Department of Social Welfare and Education and the accountant of the Australian provincial of the Brothers of St John of God, which established the school, said the Minister. Brother Moloney was also in Welling jn and was invited to discuss the future of f he school with Mr Pickering and Mr AdamsSchneider. Earlier, Mr Pickering approved the payment of boarding bursaries of $3OO per annum for each pupil who requires special education and does not already qualify for the Department of Health’s grant for intellectuallyhandicapped children. Mr Adams-Schneider and Mr Pickering have instructed that discussions be continued with the brothers on plans for the school. They said in the statement that it was hoped that the aid proposed by the Government would allow the Marylands School to continue its work. “Parsimonious” The chairman of the Marylands auxiliary (Mr J. B. Lagan) dismissed the Governments latest offer of help as “parsimonious in the extreme." He said he would do his utmost to make the case a political issue during the elec-

tion campaign, and all members of the auxiliary would go out of their way to make Mr Kirk's promise of help known to the public. “This latest effort appears to be as far as the Government can stretch itself. I am not too surprised as it fits in with a similar offer of help by a National Party candidate in a Labour-held seat. “The candidate recently promised the brothers that he would secure for them some disused Forest Service huts in North Canterbury for the boys to sleep in," said Mr Lagan. “It is obvious the Government has rejected the advice of its own architects, who established during an inspection that the cost of putting Marylands in reasonable liveable condition would be $250,000. Yet there is not a cent in the offing for maintenance.”

Mr Lagan said Marylands was now certainly doomed to close because the money required for maintenance would not be available. He said the brothers were being subjected to insulting remarks from Cabinet Ministers and correspondents. He said one Cabinet Minister

had told the brothers they had not minded running their home on the proceeds of raffles up till now. The writer of a letter to Marylands had suggested that the brothers ‘get out and get back to Australia where they belonged.” Lottery money Mr Lagan said that Mr Adams-Schneider had asked Brother Moloney in Wellington if he would accept money from the Golden Kiwi lottery. Brother Moloney had said that he would and had previously applied, but had never received any, except $5OO to cover the cost of some reading work.