Wed 11th Nov 2015
Punishing the poor
Published in the Age on Wednesday, November 11, 2015
While the federal government considers attacking nicotine addicts with less access to private healthcare and forcing them on to the underresourced public system, the opposition considers attacking the hip pockets of such addicts to fund education.
We know that punishment for smoking can help motivate some smokers to quit but it’s worth noting that smoking now is very much an addiction of those on low incomes, suffering mental illness and other motivation-destroying problems. For many it is not a lifestyle choice because they have so few choices; they live from hour to hour in a world few of us will ever experience.
It would appear both major parties are disconnected from or don’t care about our most vulnerable. How we treat them is a test for the quality of our society.
Tim Woodruff