WAR PENSIONS

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 28, 2 August 1923, Page 4

WAR PENSIONS

s PROVipiNG FOR INi CREASES

i PROPOSALS IN AMENDING BILL

ESTIMATED-'TCJ' COST £80,000.

"'•, 'Aocording-tip,,the, Minister of Defence^ ifhe amendment of the War Pensions "Act introduced.in the House of Representatives last night carries -out the recommendations of the Pensions Inquiry Committee, which recently investigated ,the whole system of Avar pensions and 'their adminwtr.a.tion. ',The principal innovations are the creation of a special 'form of pensions known as economic ■pension, and tha setting up of a Pen■eions Appeal Board. ,_ The, total cost of ■concessions in the Bill' is" estimated at 2680,000. ~L 'I Economic pension " is defined as " a supplementary pension granted on economic grounds, and being in addition to any pension payable as of right in respect of the death or disablement of any .Inember of the forces."

~ The Bill provides that the Pensions ißoard, in considering any application for Ihe economic pension, may take into jconsideratifih the ability of the applicant to. obtain and retain suitable employment, the personal earnings' and other income of the applicant, the property of the applicant, the cost of living, and such other factors of economic -.'significance as the Board considers relevant. An economic pension may be granted, up to 30s weekly,'subject to the .provision that the total amount of ths pension, together with personal earnings, shall not exceed) £3- 10s -weekly. -The Minister of Defence 'explained that ihis clause- would involve an expenditure of " £60,000 annually. The economic pension may be granted to 'the Vife and children of a disabled member 'qualified; to.receive a pension, under, the Act, and subject to'the-maxi-jnum already indicated.- -. . . '■t The widow of a member who was in jeceipt^ of. a. pension may be .granted an Economic pension on the'following scale: "—Widow-and one child, not exceeding 10s weekly; widow.. and two or "more children, 10s weekly, increased by 2s 5d weekly for every child in excess of :one. .The . Pensions Board may make •a further grant up to 15s weekly to a iwidow'to secure the education of her children so long, as the .total pension, ■floes not exceed £4 weekly. This; it iyras explained by Sir. Hea'ton Rhodes, is enacting what has-been the actual practi£e.Jof the, Pensions Board.

' An economic pension may be granted to the widowed mother of a deceased -jiensioner up to £1 weekly where the ,-ipplicant- was totally dependent on the .soldier, and her incdme does, not as a jtesult;exceed;£2 10s weekly. A similar "pension •may-be granted to a widowed .mother who was paiffaUy dependent' on 'a soldier, subject'to a limit'- of 35d -jveekly. '■•■'•

■j; Pensions to children are generally to -.cease at the age of sixteen, but in the .case of female children the Pensions jßoard•" will have discretion to continue ■'grants for' Mother ;year, or in the case of a child suffering from mental or .bodily infirmity, it may continue the pension, for such time as it thinks fit. -The latter discretion is also- to apply where consideration of a child's education is'involved. • '

■ _ A new scale of amputation pensions is . provided. The pensions for applicants ..who have suffered amputation of a leg above the knee is £8 per annum, while the pension in cases of amputation below the knee\is c£6 per annum. ■ Power .is. givenfto increase the allowance for an attendant from £1 to £3 PENSIONS APPEAL BOARD. $ A^War-bFensioris'.' Appeal Board' Vis' to ■pc constituted of three members, ,two of whom are tp b Q nominated" by - the- ■ Minister of Defence, and shall be registered medical practitioners. "The third shall be appointed to represent ,She_ Returned Soldiers' ' Association, .'which will be asked to nominate six qualified persons, of whom the Minister o£ Defence shall select ono as a member of the boardr The grounds of appeal from: decisions of the War Pen.Sions :Board.^6hall be—(a) The rejection of a- claim for a pension on the. ground that the death or disablement of the ;inember of the force in respect of whom whose death or disablement the claim '■was made was not due directly or indirectly to his employment as a member ,':>! the, forces, or in the case of disablement was not aggravated' by such employment; (b) the assessment of. a pension granted to any member of forces -n so far as the assessment is based ; ->n medical grounds. il The' Board of Appeal may consider 'evidence, whether of a strictly legal nature or not. The Appeal Board- has .power,to-confirm or Vary the award of the War_ Pensions Board, and to make ts decisions retrospective if necessary. •i^ The limited grounds of ;ippeal to a Stipendiary Magistrate, .which were included in the amending Act of 1916, have been extended to enable this right 1.0 be exercised by any person - whose pension has been withdrawn, reduced, 'or suspended by the board. ; The right of a widow and children to ;ieceive a pension in respect of the death of a member., of the forces was formerly limited to cases where death occurred ;vithin seven years of injury, but this • time limitation is to be removed. :',' The partial disability pension which :Tnay be payable in respect of the amputation 'of -the left arm at or above the ..■ elbow'has been increased from 75 to 80 ' ber cent of .the total disability pension, „tncl a. similar increase has been mado ;jn respect of amputations of the right ■:irm below the elbow. . ■:. THE ECONOMIC PENSION,. i. In explaining the riia'ih provisions of 2}he Bill, thocMinister (the Hon. Sir R. ■Heaion Rhodes) said that the total cost '■il the increases was" estimateel at £80.----|OOO. .The Bill was framed for the most :-jart ori^ the reeomnrendations of the •Wa.v Pensions Commission. The Returned Soldiers' Association had made '& plea for the economic pension, which 2>-as the biggest mattey-dealt with.in the -±Jillj and- would involve expenditure amounting fo 6Oine'£6o,ooo.~"TKo' economic pension would'take the' 'place of ;;;ho former supplementary pension paid 4o ths totally disabled. . Further, the /economic pension would, go' to help those :>ho, on account of their invalidity, wero -intable to obtain employment. When -such men did find employment tho eeqfl'oniio pension, would., cease. — «Tho fluty. :of the Ponß.:qhs'"ißo.ard,'would"borto iil.quiro into tho position of those soldiers y.-ho wero ujirWo to obtain employnunt, and it was. to be, hoped, that the. '.'Kill would bo the'.lileans' of 1 relieving^ 1 "such men. .. I

* With regard to the difficult question of the Appeal. Board, the Minister stat-. id that the i^.S. A,. had always maintained tba : t"sit<sh a-board was absolutely ■At • present : trio Pensions CBoard consisted~6f "a Magistrate, a medical officer appointed by the Government, ;and a representative of tho 31.8.A.' The R.S.A. was satisfied with the. Pen-. iioris" Board, but wished provision to Jig

made for appeals to be made against its decisions. The Appeal Board to be set up under the Bill would be appointed by the Minister of Defence, but they had not been'able to give, effect to the wishes of the R.S.A. as to its constitution. The association asked for the appointment of a Judge of the Supreme Court, but, failing that, it. was asked that a K.C. be appointed.- Well, a Judge of the Supreme Court was practically out of the question. ,He did not think that a Judge would care to act, and in any -case- the Judges were overworked at the .prasent time. There were few K.C.s, and fewer still available.' It was thought better, therefore, to leave it open to the Government to appoint certain persons who would be acceptable to the R.S.A. He did not Wow who the person would be, but he would endeavour to get someone who would be acceptable to the association.

Sir. W. A. Veitch (Wanganui) urged that some clear definition should bo given of the term "war disability," and expressed the hope that the Appeal Board would give generous treatment to tho soldiers. In the past there had been' too much parsimony in regard to pensions.

Mr. G. Witty (Riccarton) said the question was whether the Bill went far enough. There were thousands who were suffering to-day—men who declared themselves fit when they returned in order to get their discharge. It was tho duty of the State to see that these men were looked > after. Ho trusted that the Appeal Board would be composed of men who would weigh every case on its merits. If not, it would be a serious thing for the soldier applicants. Something should be done, also, for those men who had had their pensions cut down simply because of industry shown by the wife in trying to earn money to supplement the pension. The country should make up the earnings of those whoso earning power was restricted because of war disability. He thought moat people would welcome the Bill, but there must be a Pensions Board" which was humane ha its consideration of the cases submitted to it.

Mr. L. M. Isitt (Christchurch North) stated that he had come across many cases where men were refused pensions because the doctors said they had not contracted their diseases during the war. In such cases it would be well to err on the side of generosity. The Government took on its shoulders a serious responsibility .when .if accepted these men. . ■ The Bill.was read a first time.