The Wire

More than 20,000 people in the Northern Territory are about to get a rude shock. They will soon be joining scores of Indigenous communities in having half their welfare payments quarantined by the Federal Government. This means that for the first time non-Indigenous people will be forced to spend their income on certain products at certain stores, via a special credit card. In theory this will stop people wasting money on things like alcohol and gambling. Despite strong opposition from Australia’s peak welfare body ACOSS, and The Greens, Federal Parliament yesterday passed the law which will be rolled out from July.