A lot has been written about " Big Brother " intruding in our affairs but managing our own money has remained a personal matter.
That principle was tossed aside in the Northern Territory when the government declared that many Aboriginal families were wasting their welfare payments on grog and failing to feed and protect their children.
Welfare payments were partly quarantined and suddenly Centrelink became the " money managers ", making decisions on what a family could and could not buy.
Now the government is proposing to extend that supervision to all those who receive welfare funds - in every part of Australia.
It sounds like a scene from " I984 " - that famous book about life under the " Big Brother " regime.
Will we see the day that pensioners have to lineup at Centrelink on pension day, bills in hand and with a plan of proposed meals - to get approval for a portion of their pension to be released so they can spend this money ?
Obviously this is an unlikely scenario - but control over how others spend their money is a powerful tool in the hands of bureaucrats.
A prospect that must tempt the Mandarins of the public service !
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