INVALIDS AND BLIND

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19106, 29 August 1936, Page 5

INVALIDS AND BLIND

PENSIONS PROVISIONS MAXIMUM OF £4 A WEEK OTHER INCOME ALLOWED (Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, this day. Under the new pensions legislation, every person of the age of 10 years upwards will be entitled to an invalidity pension if they are totally blind or are permanently incapacitated for work as a result of accident, by reason of illness, or any congenital defect. A person who would not qualify for t}ie old age pension cannot secure an invalidity pension. He must have resided in New' Zealand for at least 10 years, but there may be a break of an aggregate .period of six mouths. •' In the case of a blind person, .absence for vocational training or medical treatment, will not preclude the granting of a pension. Eligibility for the pension is the fact that a person w r as born blind in New Zealand or became .blind while permanently residing here. In the .case of other’ applicants, eligibility consists of the fact‘that a person was, born in New Zealand with the condition to which his incapacity for -work is attributable, or that he became incapacitated for work by reason of an accident happening in New Zealand, or illness contracted here. The pension w T i)l not be granted in self-induced accident, or where there is outstanding a claim for damages or compensation. In the'case of a married man, -with a wife dependent on him, the pension is £1 a week, with 10s for his wife and 10s for every child. In the case of a widower, the rate is the same, and in every other ease the rate is .£l. In the case of a married man or widower, the annual amount of any pension computed shall be diminished by £1 for every £1 of the total income of the applicant and of his wife and dependent children in excess of £lO4, and also by £1 for every complete £lO of net capital value of accumulated .property of the applicant, his wife and children, computed, as in the case of application for the old age pension. In other cases, the amount is to be diminished by £1 for every £1 of annual income of the applicant in excess of £52, and by £1 for every £lO of net capital value of accumulated property. A PERSONAL EARNINGS In computing the income of any blind person, personal earnings- up to £2 15s a week are not to bo taken into account. The maximum invalidity pension will be £4 a w T eek. A step-child or child legally adopted comes within the definition of “child,” and there is a provision empowering the commissioner in computing the amount of pension payable to have regard for any child maintained by the applicant as if the child were the applicant’s child and dependent on him. Blind pensioners may receive an additional pension by way of a bonus in respect of personal earnings. Such bonus is 25 per cent of the average weekly earnings for the year, but the total receipts of a pensioner in his own right, irrespective of the source, may'not exceed £3 15s a week. Anybody undergoing sentence of imprisonment or being maintained, ,at the expense of the Government as an inmate of any public institution will not be eligible for the pension, but payment can be made in respect to the wife and children of a pensioner. A blind person under 20 years of age may have his pension suspended if he refuses to undergo vocational training. Applicants may also have to submit to medical examination, and in the event of a pension being cancelled there is the right of appeal to a hoard of three medical practitioners. The provisions in the principal Act which preclude the application of the old ago pension to naturalised subjects, except to those who have been naturalised for one year, and to Chinese and other Asiatics, whether naturalised or not, and whether British subjects by birth or not, have been repealed. PROVISION FOR WIDOWS £4/10/. A WEEK MAXIMUM DESERTED WIVES COVERED Widows’ pensions have been increased from 10s a week to £l, but the allowance for children remains at 10s. The maximum payment is £4 10s, compared with £4 as at present. A £ for £ reduction takes effect where the total income exceeds £7B per annum. The provision in the principal Act dealing with ,-wid'ows’' income from property has been repealed. There is provision- in the bill including deserted wives who may be placed on the same basis as widows. There is also provision for the granting of a Eension to a married woman whose husand' is subject to a reception order under the Mental Defectives Act, 1911. SCOPE EXTENDED MINERS’ PENSION RIGHTS The grounds on which miners’ pensions may be granted have been extended so as to include “or other occupational disease or heart disease.” The provision which precluded a miner from securing a pension if he had been convicted of an offence punishable by two years’ imprisonment during five years lias been repealed. In the event of the death of a miner in receipt of a pension, his widow is entitled to a pension of 17s 6d a week.