IMPORTANT APPEAL

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIII, Issue 275, 3 November 1933, Page 5

IMPORTANT APPEAL

Unemployment charge liability of Native Women DECISION RESERVED Whether Maori women with incomes should be liable to pay the emergency unemployment charge was the question involved in an appear from the deeision of the Magistrate heard by Mr. Justice Ostler at the Supreme Court, Napier, this morning. The hearing arose through an appeal •n a point of law against the decision of the Magistrate at Hastings on an information laid against Puke Puke Tangiora, a wealthy native woman. His Honour said that it involved an important point and reserved his decision. Mr. H. B. Lnsk appeared for the ®o vemment Department appealing against the Magistrate’s decision, while the respondent was represented by Mr. W. E. Bate, of Hastings. Mr. Lusk stated that an information was laid against the respondent as being a person liable to pay the emergency unemployment charge. She made default for a longer period than one month on the ground that she was a person exempted from liability to pay the charge. Section 14 of the Act stated that every woman who had income exceeding £250 was liable to pay ■the charge. The section under which the information was laid stated that the the charge was liable to be paid on income other than wages or salary exceeding £2O. The respondent was a wealthy native woman and during the hearing in the Magistrate’s Court it was argued that the Act did not apply to native women. Counsel submitted that there was nothing ambiguous or wanting in precision to entitle the Court to hold that native women were exempt from the Act. The only injustice it contained was the exemption of native men from liability for the charge. Mr Lusk submitted that Ort the wording of the ■ection the appeal should succeed. Mr Bate submitted that the question was whether native women should be liable to pay the charge on income other than wages or salary. He would admit that under section 12 they were to pay on wages or salary. The exemptions as referred to in the Act were undoubtedly contemplated for natives and pensioners. In his opinion if section 13 of the Act stood alone all women except certain classes would be liable to pay the charge on unearned income, but in the following section they were given exemption in contradistinction to men. His submission was that section 13 was the operative section for the emergency charge, while the following one was auxiliary, its main object being to create an advantage for women. He would say that the injustice went a great deal further than suggested by Mr Lusk, as widows and old-age pensioners were liable to pay, while the men escaped. Mr Bate contended tjiat the Statute should be construed as a whole, and he submitted that it was the intention of the Act to exempt from liability pensioners and Maoris unless they were wage-earners. The principle of the Act was for those earning money to assist those who were not in employment. The natives were not responsible for the tin employment in the country and they had their own communal way of living The legislature had quite properly omitted them from the liability of the Act unless they elected to come under its provisions. They were not able to obtain the benefits without the disadvantages. Mr Bates’ submission was that Maori women and pensioners were never intended to be included in the Act. Courts had in cases amended the lan guage of the legislature when its in. tention was obscure, and in support of this he quoted Earl Loveburn in the case Drummond versus Collins (House of Lords) as follows:—“But Courts of law have cut down or even contradicted the language of the legislature when on a full view of the Act, considering its scheme and its machinery and the maifest purpose of it, they have thought that a particular case or class of cases was not intended to fall within the taxing clause relied upon by the Crown.” Mir. Bate further submitted that construed as a whole the intention of the Act was to create a benefit for women. Regarding Maori women the provisions were obscure, and he contended that the Crown should not be assisted in the collection of the tax. His contention was that it was never intended in the Act that native women should be liable and accordingly the appeal should be dismissed.