2402
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
[No. 90

3. The term “recruit” as hereinafter used means any man who has voluntarily enlisted in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, whether before or after the date of these regulations, or who has become a member of that Force by being called up for service therein under the Military Service Act, 1916.

4. (1.) If the Minister of Defence has reason to believe, on application made to him by or on behalf of any recruit, that the service of such recruit in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force may be a cause of undue hardship to himself or to persons dependent on him, and that such hardship may be avoided by the grant of financial assistance under these regulations, the Minister may, if he thinks fit, refer the matter to a Military Service Board for inquiry and report.

(2.) The Board shall cause due notice of the time and place of any such inquiry to be given to the Commandant and to such other persons (if any) as the Board may think entitled to be heard.

(3.) A Military Service Board to which any matter has been referred by the Minister under these regulations may, if it thinks fit, refer the matter to any other Military Service Board, which shall thereupon have the same powers and jurisdiction as if the matter had been referred to it by the Minister in the first place.

5. (1.) It shall not be necessary for a Military Service Board to hear and determine judicially any matter referred to it by the Minister of Defence under these regulations, but the Board shall in all such cases deal with any such references in the first place as a matter of administrative discretion, and may report to the Minister the opinion of the Board accordingly.

(2.) If on any such investigation the Board is of opinion that a judicial inquiry is necessary or advisable, the Board shall thereupon proceed to hear and determine the matter judicially in accordance with these regulations, and shall report to the Minister of Defence whether in the opinion of the Board any such avoidable hardship as aforesaid exists, and shall recommend the grant to the recruit, in accordance with these regulations, of such financial assistance (if any) as the Board considers just and reasonable.

(3.) The Minister of Defence shall thereupon take such report and recommendation into consideration, and may, if he thinks fit, approve, either wholly or as to any part thereof, of the recommendation so made.

6. All financial assistance approved by the Minister of Defence under these regulations shall be afforded from the public revenues available for the pay of soldiers of the Expeditionary Force.

7. All moneys so payable under these regulations by way of financial assistance for a member of the Expeditionary Force shall be expended on his behalf under the authority of the Minister of Defence, and in such manner as that Minister from time to time thinks fit.

8. On the death of any member of the Expeditionary Force for whom financial assistance has been so provided, the like assistance may, if the Minister of Defence thinks fit, be continued, in whole or in part, in favour of the wife, children, or any dependant of the deceased for any period not exceeding twenty-six weeks after his death.

9. If at any time after financial assistance has been so provided for any member of the Expeditionary Force such assistance is considered by the Minister of Defence to have become unnecessary, he may refer the matter to a Military Service Board, and may, on the recommendation of that Board, discontinue, in whole or in part, the assistance so provided.

10. The assistance to be afforded to any member of the Expeditionary Force under these regulations shall be for the purpose of enabling him to meet the following obligations, that is to say:—

(a.) Rent;

(b.) Interest payable in respect of loans or mortgages or in respect of agreements for the purchase of a dwellinghouse or business premises;

(c.) Interest and instalments payable in respect of agreements for the purchase of furniture or other chattels;

(d.) Rates and taxes;

(e.) Insurance premiums;

(f.) Other necessary or reasonable expenses, not being expenses incurred in the purchase of property.

11. Such assistance shall be granted as from such date as the Minister approves in that behalf, not being more than three months earlier than the date of the application to the Minister for financial assistance, and not being earlier than the date at which the recruit first becomes entitled to receive continuous pay as a member of the Expeditionary Force.

12. Such assistance may be granted either by way of periodical payments or by way of lump sums, but so that in no case shall the aggregate