![]() The whole Universal Basic Income idea was designed in the Scandinavian countries and in those parts of the nations where it has been applied on a trial basis – in parts of the US and Canada, Finland, India, Iran, Uganda and so forth – it works. Think of the number of microphones of the shock jocks that will simply blow up at the very idea of it, the word processors destroyed as the columnists unleash their thunder! And, more seriously, the gutting of the hard-working taxpayer to pay for such largesse, including to those who simply don’t want to work!ĮC: For all my life, there’s been a stigma attached to those getting money without work attached – the whole “lifters and leaners”, “dole-bludgers” and “welfare cheats” thing – and most of it is unfair. I look at things and I say, “What is the best way to fix this problem?” And I don’t care whether the world thinks the UBI is a left-wing solution – it will work, and it is vital.įitz: But, Everald, can we start with the cost? I don’t just mean the government giving out free money to everyone. Just wait until Bronwyn Bishop hears about it!ĮC: What I believe I’ve done is to move to the centre of politics because I reject pure capitalism on one side and socialism on the other. But this UBI sounds a lot like socialism. All up, I would have had you marked down as a strong conservative. Credit: Mike Bowersįitz: Well, for one thing, when I knew you well, courting your fine daughter in the early ’80s, you were a great supporter of Queensland premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen and I know you to be a close friend of John Howard – a friendship which included you fundraising for him, for free. You state this should not be viewed as welfare, but as a basic human right.Įverald Compton with prime minister John Howard in 1998. Otherwise, they’re not going to give again.įitz: And so now, Everald, after you have put your weight behind fundraising causes for almost 70 years, I confess myself more than a little stunned to see you advocating for the Universal Basic Income for all Australians, the basic idea being that every adult in the country be given the rough amount of the pension – $500 a week – regardless of their job status or wealth. And afterwards, the donor must be kept up to date on achievements reached with their money. Then, and only then, will they be able to get other people to do the same.įitz: The other one I remember is: “People don’t want to just give money into a gaping maw of need, they want to see exactly what their money goes to, and get the feeling that their money has made an actual difference.”ĮC: You remember it well. So I never took a job unless everyone on the fundraising committee had themselves dug deep. And this is the thing to bear in mind: people don’t so much give money to causes as to people. To get big money for big and important causes, you ultimately need to get most of that money from the people who can write big cheques.
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