Dear o sung wu,

Just to be clear I didn't offer any judgement on the desirability or otherwise of a cashless card nor of drug testing. My only stated position is that compelling a person to take a drug test to avoid being placed on a cashless card is one thing but withdrawing support entirely just based on a refusal to submit to a test is to me completely unjustified.

I would be interested in your thoughts on that part of the issue.

As to national service I know of quite a number of environmental initiatives using unemployed people in our area were heavily over subscribed during Abbott's green corps push. But funding was pretty quickly dramatically slashed. I suspect getting this government to fund a proper universal national scheme of any description is highly unlikely.

Just on Abbott, the news of him being so intoxicated he couldn't be stirred in order to attend a vote in the house surely makes the case that our pollies need a testing regime right now.

Dear individual,

You write; “where is the human dignity in some tatooed from A -Z who's 90% of the time high on some mixture & expects me to contribute to help him ? I have the feeling you don't understand the concept of dignity ! “

Well mate where is the dignity in getting some poor older bloke around 60 who has been retrenched due to the company he worked for being sold off to overseas interest, struggling to secure a job given his age, now having to piss in a bottle and have a mouth swab taken every few months to prove he isn't a druggie?

All of us can fall on hard times.

As to you contributing to help him aren't you retired? How are you putting in to assist him?

And what do you think the tattooed bloke is going to do when his assistance is cut off? He will ultimately do whatever he needs to do to survive. How is society going to be better off?

SteeleRedux, how do you afford dope, even recreationally, if you are on basic welfare? We are bombarded with messages about how it’s impossible to even survive on such a small amount of money. Certainly there should be nothing spare for drugs and alcohol.
Foxy, you are just like all the people who predicted a massive crime wave in the NT when everyone on welfare except aged pensioners was put on the Basic Card 10 years ago. Even single mothers went on it. And guess what? It never happened!
Just like it hasn’t happened in Ceduna and Kununurra, where the Cashless Debit Card has been in place for several years now.
Also, if you think about this, it’s not just about stopping welfare recipients from using drugs, it’s also about cutting back on the cash economy, an attempt to get businesses to stop trading in cash they don’t declare, something that costs the government billions in unpaid taxes.

Another feature associated with this Topic and the consequential flow-on if payments are stopped. Besides, not bothering to eat, most minor property offences are carried out by druggies, who sell their ill-gotten gains, at pubs and on street corners, etc. At ridiculously low prices, but sufficient enough to obtain their next fix. If their drug of choice becomes scarce, so the costs of getting it also rise. Therefore, they need to resort to more serious crimes, 'offences against the person.' So one's imagination needs to look no further, to see the ultimate consequences, - aggravated robberies, then on to homicide.

A druggie going through the extreme 'horrors' is not a pretty sight, I can assure you. If they're female, they lose all manner of vanity and dignity, including vomiting, urinating, and defecating, including demonstrating self-gratification, sexual acts? I've never seen or heard arresting police rejoice in their suffering, whether female or male! Drugs are an absolute scourge in our community, and those who push them...well, either shoot 'em, lock 'em up, and discard the key forever!

probably no easy answers but when you see young kids of those on welfare and drugs roaming the streets stealing and begging you know the systems not working. Always seems to be money for drugs and alcholol but not food and essentials. They certainly don't have these issues in Singapore. Out of the many druggies I have met very few breakthrough even after many 'rehab' attempts. What happened to Bob Hawke's famous statement or was it just virtue signalling. There are jobs going begging in many places in Australia but unfortunately the sel entitled generation believe it is their right to get a cosy well paid job where they were brought up or at least holifay spots like Byron Bay or Coffs Harbour. Maybe we need to lift the newstart allowance by $100 a week but only those willing to be drug tested. Just a thought.

Afraid my view will confront some, true work for the dole, every one under 60
Of benefit to the community
And in its self will unmask fraudsters
Not from the anti drug test mob,every worker, in any work place, should be tested, for the safety of every one