SOCIAL INSURANCE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22963, 15 February 1938, Page 10

SOCIAL INSURANCE

Remarkable progress has been made by the Commonwealth Government with its joint scheme of national health insurance and superannuation. A Sydney message published this morning shows that the details are already faii'ly well known, that a directing officer has been appointed, and that operating legislation will probably be introduced and passed within the next two or three months. When the complex nature of social insurance is remembered, and also the fact that it was adopted as a policy plank in the Government's election programme less than six months ago, the extent of present achievement can be appreciated. One of the New Zealand Government's main pledges at the election in 1935 was to establish a universal scheme of social insurance. So far, however, no plans have issued from Cabinet, and the people are completely in the dark as to what the Government proposes or what will be expected of them. On the other hand Australians are already fairly closely informed on the" contributions they will be expected to make and the benefits they will be entitled to draw in sickness and in old age. These have been drawn to the plan successfully operating in Britain, although the scale of payments and benefits is higher. The State's liability in respect of both health insurance and superannuation has also been defined and the scheme is expected to provide for 2,000,000 workers and 1,000,000 dependants. Whether the New Zealand scheme will follow the comparatively simple and well-tried lines that Australia has adopted remains to be seen. The New Zealand Government may wish to attempt something more ambitious and it may be that questions of cost, of ways and means, await answers. It should, however, be taken as an axiom that financial soundness is the first consideration with social insurance. Otherwise the primary aim of economic security may be missed.