INCREASED PENSIONS

Greymouth Evening Star, 14 September 1936, Page 11

INCREASED PENSIONS

STAFF’S GOOD WORK

[PEE PEESS ASSOCIATION’.]

ROTORUA, September 12

It will be made possible for State pensioners throughout the Dominion to receive on Thursday next the increases of pensions recently granted by Parliament. The Minister of Pensions, Mr Parry, stated to-day that, approximately 60,000 pensions will be affected by the increased payments to be made by the legislation. The maximum old age pension was increased from 17/6 per week to £1 per week as from July 1 last, and to 22/6 per week as from December 1 next.

The Minister said that the alterations in the method of calculatng the pension would mean that a far greater proportion of pensioners than formerly would receive the full pension. Among the very beneficial improvements in the law was one providing that a woman under sixty-five should now have no deduction made from her pension in respect of her age. In the great majority of cases, he said, the deduction formerly made in respect of property which provided little or no income, were now eliminated.

Paying a warm tribute to the staff of the Pensions Department in performing what he described as an almost herculean task in getting ready so quickly the vouchers to enable the back pay of the pensioners to be handed over to them on Thursday, Mr Parry said he had discovered, from investigations he had made on taking up office as Minister of Pensions, at tho beginning of the year, that the State had in its Pensions Department a staff from the Commissioner to the junior officers which, in competence and readiness to serve in any emergency, could not be excelled.