The cashless welfare card

could be on the way out if, as expected, we have a change of government in May.
This will be a mistake.
Yes, I know the arguments about it being "demeaning" and the like. I don't like it either but is there a better solution? I doubt it.
All sorts of things have been tried in the past and none of them have worked.
The cashless welfare card, on trial in a number of communities, has worked. It has meant that children are better off. That is what matters.
I was talking to someone recently. He has a job in one of the communities where the cashless welfare card is being tried and he says it works. It isn't perfect. There are still problems. Overall though it has been welcomed, particularly by the women in the community. 
   "Women are telling me they can actually buy food now."
I know people will say, "But they were getting the same amount of money before. There was nothing to stop them spending that on food."
Oh yes there was. 
All the things that have been tried before, usually some sort of "education" programs have not worked. We all know that eating the right foods, eating in moderation and exercising sensibly will help us to maintain a healthy weight. How many of us actually do it? If we only had access to the right foods in a limited quantity and were forced to exercise each day we might lose weight and then maintain a healthy weight. It is even more likely that our children, if we had any, would do it too.
And that is apparently on the minds of women in communities where the cashless welfare card has been being used. They want it to remain not for their own benefit but for the benefit of their children. 
Is there something wrong with that? In a perfect world an education program would work. In a really perfect world there would be no need for welfare programs of this sort. People who could work would be working.
An indigenous friend M... is a strong supporter of the cashless welfare card. He has been a youth worker most of his adult life. He knows that, given money, the boys he works with will usually spend it unwisely. They can't save. They will buy a pack of cigarettes now even though they know it means they won't eat tomorrow. 
    "If they had worked to earn the money and they did that we couldn't stop them but if they are being given taxpayer money then we do have the right to dictate what the money can be used to buy." 
Is he right? I think he may be. At least let's give the children a chance.