I move that the Bill be read a Second Time. The purpose of this Bill is to provide new rates of pensions for officers and soldiers disabled by wound or injury after the passing of this Bill. The position at the moment is that, for example, in the case of 100 per cent. disablement the rate of pension payable to a soldier under the 1927 Act is 26/- a week. This rate was increased to 42/- a week by the Act of 1943 for soldiers wounded during the emergency. Since the end of the emergency, that is, the 3rd September, 1946, the only rate applicable was the 26/- a week payable under the Act of 1927, so that it became necessary to review the whole position. This Bill now increases the rate to 50/- a week for soldiers wounded after the passing of this Bill and leaves the soldiers the same rates of increased marriage pension payable under the Act of 1946. It will be seen, therefore, that there is a period from the 3rd of September, 1946, to the date of the passing of this Bill when the soldier wounded during that period will not be entitled either to the 42/- a week of the 1943 Act or the 50/- a week of this Bill, but to the 26/- a week of the 1927 Act. That gap, however, will be covered in a later Bill which will deal with an increase in pensions payable under the Act of 1927, that is, under the pensions scheme for which we introduced a Supplementary Estimate half an hour ago.
The second important object of this Bill—Section 9—is to extend the date of application for medals for the purpose of special allowances. That date under the Act of 1946 was the 31st of December, 1946. Now it is extended to six months after the passing of this Bill. There are at present about 3,613 late applications and as soon as this Bill becomes law the necessary forms will be sent without undue delay to all the persons concerned.
Another purpose of this Bill—Sections 8 and 10—is to extend the provisions of the Army Pension Acts to nurses and to officers and men of the First Line Reserve. Hitherto, neither nurses nor reservists, except during the emergency, came within the ordinary peace-time Acts. They will now be entitled to the same rights as the ordinary regular officer or soldier. Further, the Bill—Section 11—empowers the Minister to formulate a pension or compensation scheme for the Second Line Reserve and this will be put in train immediately.
Provision is also made in this Bill— Section 7—for the dependents of unmarried officers or soldiers who are killed or who die from wounds attributable to service. If the relative was totally or mainly dependent on the deceased an allowance will be payable, but if the dependence was only partial a gratuity will be payable. In the case of a soldier the test of the dependency will be the contribution of a voluntary allotment from his pay.
The sections just outlined may be described as general in character in that they relate to groups or classes rather than to individuals. Experience in the administration of the Acts has revealed, however, that some sections are so tightly drawn, or some words so rigidly defined, that they inflict undue hardship in particular cases, and, therefore, the Bill in several sections attempts to remedy this defect, and to remove the hardship. Thus the Seventh Schedule of the 1927 Act limits to four the number of children in respect of whom allowances could be paid, but this limitation is abolished by Section 6, sub-section (4) of this Bill. Again the term "marriage allowance" used in the Acts is so rigidly defined in Defence Force Regulations that a widower soldier with, perhaps, many orphans was deprived of a marriage pension under the Acts because although he was in receipt of children's allowance, that allowance was not technically marriage allowance. Moreover, if a soldier thus circumstanced was killed or died from wounds while serving, his children would not have been entitled to an allowance. This defect is now removed by sub-sections (1), (2) and (3) of Section 6 of the Bill, which in effect extends the term marriage allowance so as to include children's allowance payable under Defence Force Regulations.
During the past 25 years six persons have forfeited their pensions under Section 11 of the 1923 Act in that while on pension they were convicted of a crime or offence for which they were sentenced to imprisonment for any term exceeding three months, and two pensions were made forfeit by the Minister on grounds of disgraceful conduct. Hitherto no power existed to restore the forefeiture but the occasion of this Bill has been taken, by Section 1, to vest in the Minister, with the assent of the Minister for Finance, power to restore such pension or allowance.
Finally, Section 12 is designed to meet some cases of great hardship which have arisen in connection with the administration of special allowances. As the Acts stand at present a person's claim is finally determined if the applicant dies after the grant of an allowance by the Minister for Defence but before the Minister for Finance has assented to the grant. Seven successful applicants died in such circumstances, with the result that their relatives were deprived of sums ranging from £18 in one case to £150 in another. That position is remedied in this Bill, and by giving the provision retrospective effect to the 1st January, 1947, the relatives of the seven dead applicants will receive the moneys due on foot of the awards.
