SOCIAL SECURITY

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLV, Issue 21095, 22 July 1938, Page 8

SOCIAL SECURITY

Report to be Presented To-day Original Proposals To Stand Bill Coming Down Early Next Month (From Our Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON. July 21. The social security proposals, embracing the superannuation and health services which were announc- ' ed last March by the Prime Minister, I the Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage, and which i were subsequently investigated by a 1 special Parliamentary Committee will i be confirmed in the report of the com- l mittee which is to be presented in the ' House of Representatives to-morrow I morning. Under the resolution setting i up the committee, the report has to be i tabled within 28 days of the opening j of the session, and it will be presented ; to-morrow morning by the Rev. A. H. ! Nordmeyer, who was chairman of tne 1 committee. An indication that the original pro- | posals would still be the foundations of . the committee’s recommendations and ! of the Government's future plans was I given in an interview this evening by I the Prime Minister. There would be 1 certain extensions, he said, more particularly in widening the income limits for the recipients of State superannuation, but the original proposals still stood and would eventually be written into the la v of the land. “There has been some misapprehension.” Mr Savage said, “regarding my previous statement that a sliding scale is to operate above the income limit of £2OB for superannuation and other income. In referring to this point I quoted as an example the case of civil servants who might retire on small < superannuation allowances, and some people have got the impression that the extension is to apply only to civil servants. That is not the case. It will apply to all incomes and not to the way in which those incomes are earned.” The report would be a comprehensive document, the Prime Minister continued, and would review all the proposals put forward with regard to superannuation and health services. The general practitioner service orginally proposed would be the starting point of the health scheme, and importance would be attached to the adoption of the universal principle. Specialist, consultant, dental and other services would be included in the health scheme as it developed. Estimated Cost Mr Savage indicated that there would be no extensi”e or detailed references in the report with regard to finance. The cost for the initial year was still estimated at between £17,000.000 to £18.000,000. No definite indication could be given by the Prime i Minister as to the bearing which the | health scheme will have on the exist- I ing means of hospital finance. The ( Government would pay 6s a day for ■ every hospital patient, Mr Savage said, j but questions of hospital rating and I other financial details would have to ■ be hammered out by the Government | in consultation with the hospital boards. Unemployment Relief Although the employment tax is to disappear, Mr Savage made it clear that the Government would still accept full responsibility for the relief of unemployment. under the social security proposals. Sustenance payments would be made to those 8000-men who were at ; present classified as unemployed but who were actually unfit lor work. In I addition, provision would be made to meet the case of men who lost their employment through no fault of their own. “Our main objective must be to find work for these men,” continued j the Prime Minister. ‘Many men in New I Zealand are engaged in seasonal employment. That is all right as long as it lasts, but our duty is to see that these men will not have to walk around wondering where the next job is to come from. Tn co-operation with the local bodies, which are part and parcel of the Government system of the couniry. and thiough the Public Works Department they will be given em- | ployment if they cannot find a place in I private industry. Whatever happens • the Government will not run away from its responsibility.” Mr Savage added that the Bill giving effect to the Government’s social security proposals would not be introduced until after the conclusion of the Financial Debate, probably in about a fortnight's time. For the sake of continuity the report of the committee would be discussed a day or so before the introduction of the Bill.