HIGHER PENSIONS

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 299, 14 September 1936, Page 8

HIGHER PENSIONS

Payment to be Made on Thursday 60,000 AFFECTED ’ By Telegraph—Press Association. Rotorua, September 12. State pensioners throughout the Dominion will receive on Thursday next increases of pensions recently granted by Parliament. The Minister of Fem slons, Hon. W. E. Parry, said to-day that approximately 60,000 pensions will be affected by the Increased payments to be made under the, legislation. The maximum old age pension was increased from 17/6 a week to £1 a week from July 1 last and to 22/6 a week from December 1 next, the Minister said. Alterations in’ the method of calculating the pension would mean that a far greater proportion of pensioners than formerly would receive the full pension. Among very beneficial ini-, provements in the law was one providing that a woman under 65 should now have no deduction made from her pension in respect of her age. In the great majority of cases the deductions formerly made in respect of property which provided little or no income were now eliminated. Paying a tribute to the staff of the Pensions Department in performing a formidable task in getting the vouchers ready so quickly to enable back pav of pensioners to be handed over to them on Thursday, Mr. Parry said he had discovered from investigations he had made on taking up office that the State had in its Pensions Department a staff which could not be excelled. Any alteration of pension meant a tremendous amount of extra work which carries with it much overtime for the staff. The new legislation was assented to bv the Governor-General on September 4, By working seven days in the week recomputing and assessing arrears of pensions payments as from July I. the department is able to pay on Thursday to pensioners money due to them.