REHABILITATION

Greymouth Evening Star, 28 October 1944, Page 2

REHABILITATION

PRIORITIES DEFENDED INVERCARGILL, Oct. 27. Priorities' in rehabilitation were discussed by the Minister of Rehabilitation (Mr. Skinner) in a speech at Woodlands last night, in the Awarua by-election campaign. Mr. Skinner was .replying to Mr. Doidge (National, Taliranga), who had said in a speech at Limehills on Wednesday that the Government was making a “complete botch jaf rehabilitation.” The policy of adopting priorities and the irresistible reasons for them had been fully explained to all concerned and to the public both through the newspapers and- from the floor of the House, said Mr. Skinner. All responsible organisations, such as the New Zealand' Returned Services Association and the New Zealand Home Servicemen’s Association, agreed with the principle—an unavoidable if unpalatable one in the presence of wartime shortages and demands. Home servicemen themselves, though largely at the bottom of the priority list, linstintingly agreed that such a system was fair and necessary.

“Servicemen and former servicemen must understand, however, that if applications for assistance have 1o be deferred because of any of the reasons 1 mentioned, they will not in any way lose claims on the Rehabilitation Board at the proper time,” added the Minister. “Rehabilitation benefits will be available for at least 10 years after the war, and we guarantee to put back every discharged man or woman into at least as good an economic position as he or she would have occupied but for his or her service. There is no discrimination there—only a fair and just order of preference for the most deserving cases.”