LABOUR CAUCUS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXI, 30 March 1938, Page 7

LABOUR CAUCUS

SUPERANNUATION AND HEALTH DETAILS OF SCHEMES NEXT WEEK (By Telegraph—Press Association] WELLINGTON, 29th March. With a caucus of Government members to-day, and the commencement next week of the sittings of the special Parliamentary Committee appointed to examine the Government’s national superannuation and health insurance proposals, there has been much speculation concerning the nature of these proposals. Ministers are keeping their own counsel as to the benefits involved, and in an interview this evening the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage) made it clear that he had no intention of revealing the Government’s plans until such time as they had been disclosed to the committee.

“It is mere guess-work, from be- ( ginning to end,” said Mr Savage, when his attention was drawn to a report published to-day in several evening 1 newspapers outside Wellington, purporting to give financial details of the Government’s proposals, and the benefits involved. Asked if he were prepared to say whether the national health insurance scheme was to be linked with the superannuation scheme, or the one scheme divorced from the other, Mr Savage said the Government’s proposals would J be made public when they were submitted to the committee, and not before. The general principles involved in these would be placed before the committee, and as its proceedings were to be open to the press, they would then be public property. HEARING OF EVIDENCE | “Although the committee has auth- ; ority to travel,” Mr Savage said, “there will be no need to do this.” He added that all organisations likely to give I evidence had their headquarters in Wei- 1 I lington, and even in the event of there ! being witnesses from outside Welling-! j ton, it was much easier for them to I come to the committee than for the: 1 committee to go to them.

The Prime Minister said the caucus had met in the morning, and for an hour in the afternoon. Most of the time had been occupied in discussing the legislative programme for next session, and in considering questions affecting general administration. Only part of the afternoon meeting had been devoted to a discussion on the superannuation and health insurance proposals. Another meeting of the caucus would be held to-morrow morning. “The committee will sit continuously until it has finished its job,” said Mr Savage. “The desire of the Government is that it should push ahead as rapidly as reasonably possible, so that the law draftsman can be given sufficient time to express in law whatever scheme is adopted. One does not need to be a lawyer to realise that the drafting of such legislation iis a difficult and intricate task.”