Let's not price disabled people out of a job

And now the government is offering back pay to other intellectually disabled people who were paid under arrangements similar to those of Michael and Gordon. This would save the government and the disabled workers from going to court, where you can never predict whether your judge resides in the real world or in a utopia.

But the utopian campaigners love the drama of a day in court, and are furiously campaigning for the Senate to block legislation that would authorise the government's back‑pay offer.

It is time to stand up in support of business owners who are willing to employ and supervise disabled people in the workplace. And it is time to stand up against holier-than-thou campaigners, for whom ever‑higher minimum wages for the disabled will never be enough.

For work that was done in the past, we should let the government make its offer of back pay. But looking forward, we must let employers offer wages as they see fit. And we must similarly let disabled people and their guardians accept or reject such offers as they see fit, safe in the knowledge that, regardless of their decision, the safety net of the disability support pension and other government services remains.

A famous public figure once confronted a mob of holier-than-thou campaigners who were about to set upon a sinner. He said, "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."

Let's insist that the campaigners provide generous employment to the disabled before we allow them to cast stones at employers who provide more meagre wages. And until such time, let's be grateful for small mercies.