FLAT RATE LEVY

Taranaki Daily News, 27 August 1930, Page 11

FLAT RATE LEVY

REVIEW BY THE CABINET RELIEF OF UNEMPLOYMENT AMENDMENTS BY MINISTER EXEMPTION OF PENSIONERS • 1 ( By -Telegraph.-—Press' Association. Wellington, Last Night. The House of Representatives to-day went into committee to deal with the Unemployment Bill. The leader of the Labour party, Mr. H. E, Holland, expressed the opinion that very few workers would' be likely to raise objection to the payment of contributions towards the unemployment fund. He was satisfied no . man if he had had experience 'of the cases that daily came before members of' Parliament would object to paying even a £5 levy. Every member of Parliament had had his ’ dwiwn to •' cases' 'that were worse than ■ heartbreaking; yet he was unable to give assistance.

Mr. Holland said there were a good many features in the Bill which fell far short-"of what/' flic Labour Party stood for. Still, it witfuld niako’sbme provision for people in dire'"'distress. The only alternative to sustenance was in many cases starvation. When a worker paid 30s or £1 or whatever scale of contribution was eventually decided upon he would be contributing it as an insurance for ItiriiSelf.i The general effect of providing iwdrk ! would be a ■contribution towards the economic stability of New Zealand. , When the Labour Party ; subsequently endeavoured to secure ehingbs in the Bill it would be voicing the unanimous wishes of practically the- whole of organised Labour in New Zealand. It particularly desired a graduated scale of contributions and that women should be included in the scheme. It was fortunate that the Government had already indicated it was prepared to accept amendments', and he’ hoped ’ important changes would be made. BASIS OF THE LEVY. The Minister of Labour, the Hon. S. G. Smith, said there had been a suggestion from' an organised Labour conference that the levy should be on the basis of a penny in the £1 of all income. The advice of experts, however, indicated■ that the cost;of. collecting such a levy would make it practical-., ly unworkable. It would be necessary to ascertain the income of every man over 20 years of age, and to do that it would be necessary that every man should make a return.

It was pointed out that if a penny in the pound were collected from every income over £3OO that at present did not pay tax because of certain exemptions the number of,taxpayers would be increased by pO ppr cent. There would be £7500 to .collect and the cost, of collecting it would bo £7OOO. The cost of collecting a similar levy on incomes below £3OO would be prohibitive.

Mri Smith agreed With Mr. Holland that the workers would raise no objection to contributing towards an insurance fund. He was sorry he could not accept the amendment as suggested by Mr. Fletcher that the Bill should be called the Employment Bill and the board should be named the employment board. He did not wish to cover up the fact that the Bill was the outcome of a serious unemployment situation. The Government had already decided on twO-amendments, one. making provision for the - payment of £IOO,OTO from the Consolidated Fund to the unemployment fund immediately the Bill was passed in anticipation of revenue, and the other providing that any branch of industry that wanted assistance and could''absorb a largo number of men should bo able to receive assistance.

Mf.\ R. A. Wright said he was in favour of the retention’ of the sustenance clause in the Bill so long as it was provided that a man should go to a local body and bp given some work to do in return for the sustenance received. ’He. pointed out that sonic local bodies "would bo able to employ .a large number of - men if they liad the .money to pay them. DISAGREEMENT WITH EXPERTS. Mr. P. Fraser took exception to the advice of the experts on the subject of graduated contributions. He suggested the Minister should again refer to the officials and ask them to make some feasible proposal that would bo capable of being put into operation. Ho suggested some Government officials did not always give as well balanced a survey of the. position , as could be desired. The amendment moved by Mr. Fletcher to amend tho short title to “Employment Bill.” was defeated on the voices.

Mr. .Wright urged the Minister to include, in .the-Bill a clause requiring that ft .person, should . have resided? in . New Zealand for a fixed period of say three or five years before he received sustenance. He favoured the addition of a hardship clause to meet the position of those to whom the payment of the 30s levy was unduly difficult.

Mr. Smith announced that be had a number of amendments which he proposed. to insert in the Bill with the' permission of the House. In addition to the amendment giving authority for the transfer of £IOO,COU from the Consolidated Fund to the unemployment fund to meet immediate requirements it was proposed, to alter- the clause ’granting exemptions from the levy so that all pensioners (instead of old age pensioners as previously) should be exempted. A further alteration provided that coopted members of the board should not have power to vote. An amendment relating to the subsidiary functions of the board would enlarge the scope so that assistance could also be given to an existing industry to carry on if by doing so it would be possible to keep men employed. It also permitted assistance to be given to developmental and other works (instead of merely developmental works as formerly). Mr. Smith said he would ask that the ■clause providing for a fiat rate of ebn--trjbutions to the unemployment fund should be held over in the meantlriie in view of the objections that had been raised. It was only right that Cabinet should have an opportunity to reconsider the position arid . (;o see whether a scheme could be devised under, whiefy q graduated scale wonld be wpricablc?, and;

would bring in tho money required, at the same’time imposing a minimum off hardship. Ho believed there was a task in front himself and the board in tho event of the Bill being passed,, but he felt confident it would bo possible under the scheme to bring about a great deal of improvement in tho unemployment situation. Referring to the proposal to include on tho board a representative of the returned soldiers Mr. Smith said there had been complaints that this would not by any means fulfil the recommendations of tho Rehabilitation Commission. He pointed out that it would require more money than there was available to fulfil tho commission’s recommendations at once, and ho hoped the House would accept tho proposal embodied in the ' Bill as a means of doing something • this year to improve the position of disabled ex-servicemen. He asked the House to pass the short title and thereby make it possible for each danse to be considered on its merits in turn. 4 Replying to the request that women should bo included in the scheme Mr. Smith said there were 286,00'0 women in New Zealand who were either retired or pensioners or were engaged Jn domestic duties. It would be unfair to ask all those women to contribute the levy, for the sake of the few hundred women workers. If the contributions were, confined to women workers there would be complaints that large numbers of girls leaving school would never be able to benefit under the scheme because it was possible they never had employment.

Mr, Coates said it would bo a mistake to postpone consideration of the clause relating to the unemployment levy which, he believed, was the backbone of the Bill. It would bo a case of putting the cart before the horse if the remainder of the Bill were considered before a decision was reached as to how the funds for the scheme were to be raised.

Mr. H. E. Holland declared the Minister would be unwise not to take full time to consider the suggested alteration in the basis of contributions. When the clause was reached it was decided bn the suggestion of Mr. -Coates to report progress and ask for leave to sit again. Mr. Coates asserted that the whole structure •of the remainder of the Bill depended on that section.