A PISS WEAK ARGUMENT?
 
How would you feel if you had to have random urine tests as part of your job?  You’d probably be affronted. Even though it is mandatory for a lot of people. Athletes, footballers, heavy machinery operators. Many jobs, including my own, have drug abuse clauses in the contract. If I were caught using cocaine I would be sacked. And rightly so.
 
Not many jobs have the benevolent attitude of the AFL where you could fail tests for illegal drugs three times before you are banned. And I think it’s twice before they even notify Police.
 
I’m pursuing these thoughts today because of an email from a mine site construction worker in Kagoorlie, WA.  He has to pass random urine tests and wonders why that same tests isn’t applied to people receiving Centrelink benefits.
 
His argument:  
 
‘I work, they pay me. I pay my taxes and the government distributes my taxes as it sees fit. In order to earn that pay cheque, I am required to pass a random urine test, with which I have no problem.
 
‘What I do have a problem with is the distribution of my taxes to people who don’t have to pass a urine test. Shouldn’t one have to pass a urine test to get a Centrelink payment, because I have to pass one to earn it for them?
 
‘Please understand – I have no problem with helping people get back on their feet. I do, on the other hand, have a problem with helping someone sit on their backsides drinking grog and smoking dope.
 
‘Could you imagine how much money the Government would save if people had to pass a urine tests to get a Centrelink payment?’
 
An interesting argument. Such a proposal would trigger instant knee jerk opposition from civil libertarians but what about the invasion of privacy for that heavy equipment operator out west?
 
 I’m sure that other miners, depending on him for their safety are happy those tests are enforced.
 
And if you are on unemployment benefits, and supposedly diligently looking for work, the possibility of a random urine test should not worry you.
 
Friday, February 5, 2010

© Copyright Derryn Hinch 2010