By GEORGINA MICHAEL
MEMBER for Ialibu-Pangia, Hon. Peter O’Neill, has called on Parliament to urgently address the welfare of Members of Parliament (MPs), including providing medical and life insurance coverage for MPs and their families.
Speaking in Parliament on Friday during condolence remarks for the late Member for Maprik, Hon. Libert Kapris, O’Neill said Parliament had a responsibility to look after the welfare of its members.
He said MPs worked under enormous pressure, facing demands from their communities that took a toll on their physical and mental health.
O’Neill urged MPs to take the issue of parliamentary medical insurance seriously, saying adequate coverage was essential to ensure members could access quality healthcare.
He described the existing arrangements for MPs’ medical coverage as inadequate.
“We go through enormous pressure and the pressures of the communities. Leaders around the world don’t experience the sort of pressure that we go through. Some of these health issues that we are facing is caused by that, because we are unable to manage stress,” O’Neill said.
He identified two key areas requiring urgent attention: the health and welfare of MPs and life insurance coverage for all members.
“Firstly, we must look after the welfare of members, the health of members. Secondly, all members must have some life insurance,” he said.
O’Neill said families of MPs who left office, retired or passed away were often left without adequate support and could be forgotten.
“Our families are stranded in many parts. We seem to forget the families of leaders who passed on. And life insurance is available in our country. And Parliament needs to look at that opportunity and try and look after the welfare of our families as well,” he said.
He said providing medical and life insurance for the country’s 118 MPs was both achievable and necessary, despite the associated costs.
“Even if there are less than 120 of us, it is doable,” he said.
O’Neill also paid tribute to the late Kapris, describing him as a young, emerging leader whose passing was a loss not only to the people of Maprik but also to the country.