WAR VETERANS

Evening Star, Issue 22252, 1 February 1936, Page 11

WAR VETERANS

DEMAND FOR THE HEW PENSION [Special* to the ‘Star.’] WELLINGTON, February 1. An important extension of the pensions principle for the benefit of returned soldiers was adopted by Parliament last October, when it passed the War Veterans’ Allowances Act. This enabled the Pensions Department to deal with a difficult, but deserving, class of applicant who could not be recognised under the former legislation. The Act enables allowances to be granted to ex-members of the -New Zealand Forces, including the South African Contingents, who served with units which were actually engaged with the enemy and who are now unfit for permanent employment. The legislation involved an important provision that it was not necessary for the applicant to prove that the disability was due to war service. Applications came to the Defence Department in largo numbers, and they were decided by the War Pensions Board, subject to appeal to the Pensions Appeal Board. Up till the end of December, the Pensions Board had granted 235 applications, but there were many left to be dealt with owing to the large number received within a short date. _ The amount involved in the applications granted cannot at present be stated. The Budget of last session estimated the annual cost at £30,000. Allowances are paid at the rate of £1 per week to unmarried men, while married applicants are paid £l, with an additional 15s per week in respect of their wife, and 5s each in respect of dependent children.