ADVICE NOT SOUGHT

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 152, 30 June 1938, Page 10

ADVICE NOT SOUGHT

SOCIAL SECURITY BILL

MEDICAL BENEFITS

MR. SAVAGE'S REPLY

"No one outside the Cabinet has a right to know the contents of a Bill until it has been brought before Parliament," said the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage), last evening, when referring to the statement made by Dr. J. P. S. Jamieson, president of the New Zealand branch of the British Medical Association, that so far the Government had not sought the advice of"the association in regard to the medical provisions of the measure. Mr. Savage indicated, however, that it was not difficult for anyone who had followed tne position to gain a very fair idea of the likely nature of the Government's proposals.

"So far the BUI has not come before Cabinet," Mr. Savage said, "and in these circumstances it is quite unreasonable for the British Medical Association to expect a copy of the Bill or any specific information concerning its contents. The particular nature of the proposals in the Bill will no.t be made known until it is introduced in Parliament, and when that is done the medical profession will have precisely the same opportunity as any other section of the people to study it.

"The British Medical Association is not the only organisation interested in the proposed legislation," the Prime Minister added. "The friendly societies, for instance, are vitally interested in our proposals. In -fact, their existence practically depends on the decisions the Government will make, yet they have offered unconditional support in the launching of the scheme." Mr. Savage said that .after the Bill became l»w numerous regulations dealing with the administration of the scheme would be necessary and the British Medical Associatipn and other interested organisations would be consulted when those were being prepared. "The British Medical Asosciation seems to l want us to put it on a pedestal," said Mr. Savage. "I, for one, am not going to put it there."

B.M.A.'S REPLY

PUBLIC WILL NOT BE

MISLED

NO EARLY DIAGNOSIS

Replying to the Prime Minister today, Dr. Jamieson, of Nelson, president of the British Medical Association, New Zealand branch, said the Prime Minister's statement was exactly what the association expected. What the British Medical Association desired to estab- j lish in the public mind was that, 1 in a measure which gravely concerned the health of the people of New Zealand, the medical profession had been in no way consulted. This the Prime Minis-' ter had now made quite clear, and, in addition, he had shown that, prior to committing itself to the Bill about to be brought down, the Government has no intention of seeking that practical advice which the association can give.

"The general public, of course," said Dr. Jamieson, "will not be misled by the Prime Minister's statement that 'so far the Bill has not come before Cabinet, and in these circumstances it is quite unreasonable for the British Medical Association to expect a copy of the Bill or any specific information concerning its contents.' The point is that irk the drafting of the Bill Cabinet must have given the draftsmen the necessary .decisions which the Government had arrived at, and in such an important as the health of the people'of.the Dominion the association submits that Cabinet would have been better advised to have sought the practical criticism of the association beforehand. ; ; . THE FRIENDLY SOCIETIES. "Incidentally," said Dr. Jamieson, "it is interesting to note that previous discussion. of the provisions of the projected Social Security and Health Insurance Act should be denied by the Government to interested parties when a draft of the Education Amendment Bill has been in the hands of those interested in education for months past and subjected to public criticism. The 100,000 friendly society members throughout the country will learn with interest also for the first time that they have agreed 'unconditionally' to a measure of whose provisions they have no detailed knowledge, and the general effect of which certainly must lead to the eventual extinction of their orders. The general public will observe that they aire to have no more than a general idea of the provisions of the Bill, until a powerful Parliamentary majority is ready to force it on the country irrespective of the feelings of the people and that the Bill envisages government by regulations and Orders in Council of matters intimately affecting the personal lives of each individual.

"It is a well-known principle in medicine and surgery," he concluded, "to seek an early diagnosis, the earlier the better for the sake of the patient. In this case the Government plainly has no such intention. It will not be able to complain then of difficulties which it alone has created. The time to seek co-operation is in advance, not after a position has been brought about which renders co-operation impossible." I