Old soldiers

Press, 6 October 1988, Page 14

Old soldiers

Sir, —Rudyard Kipling certainly knew a thing or two when he wrote one of his poems, “Tommy,” for it tells the fate of the old soldier once the fighting is done. It also perfectly illustrates the attitude of the Minister of Social Welfare in refusing to pay for surgery, required as a result of wartime injuries, for two ex-servicemen, along with his statement that he is "unable to recommend further Government funding for a group (sic) who already enjoy substantial financial advantages when compared with a civilian faced with the prospect of paying for private hospital treatment..(“The Press,” September 27). This from a Minister of a Government which pays $2.5M on advertising a tax package which gives a person earning $lO,OOO a year no increase whatsoever but awards the Prime Minister a weekly increase of $324! With apologies to Kipling, I quote the last verse of his poem, substituting “Kiwi” for “Tommy.” “For it’s Kiwi this,

an’ Kiwi that, an’ ‘Chuck him out, the brute!’ But it’s ‘Saviour of ’is country’ when the guns begin to shoot; An’ it’s Kiwi this, an’ Kiwi that, an’ anything you please; An’ Kiwi ain’t a bloomin’ fool — you bet that Kiwi sees!” There may well be a message for the Minister in this.—Yours, etc., EUAN DUNLOP. October 4, 1988.