Financial apartheid !

It started in northern Australia when concern was expressed that some alcoholic families were depriving their children of food and other basics by spending all their welfare money on alcohol.  A scheme was introduced to " segregate " a portion of each welfare cheque so that it could only be spent on basics.   Now that concept is to be extended into the general community.

Starting in July next year and running for a five year trial Centrelink staff will be able to nominate " financially vulnerable " people to be put on an " intervention list. "

Basically, the government through Centrelink will dictate how these people can spend their money.  They will be issued with a " Basic's card " - which is essentially an EFTPOS card which will control somewhere between fifty and seventy percent of their welfare payments - and which can only be spent on nominated and approved items.

To make this work, they can only use this Basics card at nominated retailers - and that list includes Big W, K Mart, Target, Caltex/Woolworths, Coles, Target and Woolworths.   Smaller stores are excluded because the government fears that prohibited items could be supplied on a " nod and a wink " basis to overcome the embargoes.

Unfortunately along with the good side - there is a very obvious bad side to this arrangement.  The list of prohibited purchases includes alcohol, cigarettes, and gambling items - and as the scheme develops you can be sure that the list will grow longer.   To accommodate that, the nominated outlets will need to herd basics card users through a special check-out, staffed by a member who is familiar with permitted and banned items.

There is a very real danger that this form of " financial apartheid " will lead to social discrimination.

No doubt the civil liberties people will have a lot to say before it is introduced, and that will include what criteria  Centrelink staff will use in selecting " financially vulnerable " people - and what review mechanism will be in place to allow such selection to be challenged.

A lot of reasonable people will have misgivings about putting such power in the hands of government employees.    George Orwell's " 1984 " has been and gone - and yet " Big Brother " is still hovering in the wings when the government steps in to tell people how they can spend their own money.

That old adage that "power corrupts - and absolute power corrupts absolutely " - comes to mind !