PARLIAMENT

Southland Times, Issue 21832, 8 October 1932, Page 6

PARLIAMENT

OTTAWA REPORT ’ WORKERS’ COMPENSATION BILE INTRODUCED (From Our Parliamentary Reporter). ' Wellington, October 7. With tiie object of bringing all those who are working broken time or who are in relief works into line with the provisions made for waterside workers in respect of compensation claims, the Leader of the Opposition introduced a Workers’ Compensation Amendment Bill in the House of Representatives today. The measure was read a first time and it is intended that it shall be referred to the Labour Bills Committee when it is set up. Introducing the Bill, Mr H. Holland said it had to be remembered that when this measure was introduced last session, Mr Forbes had undertaken that steps would be taken to ascertain whether the Government should take it up. It was rendered necessary by the relief work on one hand and intermittent work on the other hand. This development had resulted in injured workers receiving in many cases only one-third of the normal compensation and the Bill proposed that in computing the average weekly earnings for the purpose of fixing compensation to be paid it should be provided that such earnings should be not less than a* full week’s work calculated on the basis of the daily rates of wages irrespective of whether the injured man had been working a full week or not. Mr Holland added that there was already provision to this effect in respect to waterside workers, and it was important that it should be extended to other cases of intermittent work and relief work. He instanced a case in which a married man with a family was receiving only 16/6 per week, compensation under the present conditions. Mr Forbes suggested that the Bill should be referred to the Labour Bills Committee, and Mr Holland undertook to move in this direction when the Bill came up for its second reading next Wednesday. The report of the Government Railways Board was laid upon the table. Mr Coates presented the report and a summary of the proceedings of the Imperial Economic Conference at Ottawa. He said he proposed on Thursday next week to make a statement supplementing this document and certain Customs resolutions would be moved on that occasion. These resolutions would be presented simultaneously in Parliaments throughout the Empire and they would become operative next day. At a later stage the Customs Bill would be brought down in accordance with the usual procedure and the House would then have an opportunity to deal with the specific items that would be contained in the resolutions. He suggested that the occasion on which this Bill was under discussion would be a suitable one for a discussion of the report on Ottawa. The debate on the financial statement was then resumed.