Alan B. - thanks for the comment but can you give me just one example anywhere in the world over the last 12,000 years where a GMI operated for a reasonable length of time successfully?

But why are people with a lot more money than the people who cannot manage money profiting from those who can't. The card might help no hopers, but why/how can others profit from it as the author says. He's probably not going to tell me.

Sorry Tristan, you got it wrong right from the start.

These people are not being restricted in what they can spend their money on, but on what they can spend the tax payers money on. This is the whole idea of course, to get them to decide they want more money than the handout, & to decide it is worth going to work for it.

A couple of idealistic yank friends of mine were members of JFKs peace corps, working in the Pacific Islands. Through out the islands it was found that developing a plantation & giving it to the people of an Island or village was a dead loss. No one would tend it, & each only harvested what they immediately wanted. The things reverted to jungle.

I saw this in PNG when white planters were bought out, & the plantations given to the locals. the plantations rapidly became jungle again.

They then developed a system where they would pick out a few they thought were more switched on, & help them develop a small plantation business. with some of these prospering, the rest became jealous, & wanted the same. Soon lots of individual enterprises were going strong, where hand outs failed.

Granted I'm not sure that the islanders were better working their plantations rather than sitting around as they had been, catching a few fish, & growing a little taro, but the system worked.

Those who don't want some control over their spending of their handout could perhaps go back to hunter gathering, or growing themselves a few veggies.

The cashless welfare card reduces access to drugs for junkies.

Perhaps Labor wants to kill off these Junkies?