No good deed ever goes unpunished. I’ve spoken at length here on the Topher project about how government welfare has displaced private charity.

And the reason why we think we need government welfare is precisely because the government destroys any competition, any private charitable acts that might prove that actually we could get along just fine without government welfare. Well, here’s a story that proves my point disturbingly well because there’s a butcher ninja long facing up to half a million dollars in fines because he gave an autistic boy a job and in the process helped that boy get his life back on track without using the NDIS or any government department help. The government hates competition and they especially hate it when we the people prove that we can help each other without needing them.

Now, we’ll get to that story in a moment, but first we need to remind ourselves of the backdrop of what’s happening with the NDIS right now here in Australia. 71% of new NDIS recipients are on the NDIS because of autism. A completely unsustainable form of welfare, but very much a real problem and an existential crisis to the budget of Australia. Autism has become such a burden on the NDIS that disability minister Mark Butler has announced that they are specifically going to take steps to get autistic children into some other program and not on the NDIS, which is a rare bit of actual common sense from this big spending bankrupt the country government.

Now, for those screaming foul about this, two quick points. Intellectual disability remains a reason to be on the NDIS. So, if your child’s autism rises to the level of an actual intellectual disability, you will still qualify for the NDIS. And if it doesn’t rise to the level of an actual intellectual disability, why are you putting your kid on the National Disability Insurance Scheme in the first place? That’s my first point. They’re not taking kids with serious autism off the NDIS.

But secondly, yeah, I get it. There’s a big feeding trough filled with easy money and you’re being told that you’re no longer allowed to eat from it. And that’s frustrating for you. But the NDIS is on track to bankrupt this country if we don’t get it under control. And as I’ve said before, and I’ll keep saying it over and over again, if you think it’s hard to have a disabled or autistic kid in a rich country, wait till you have one in a bankrupt country.

Now, if that upsets you, have a cry in the comments and I will reply with laughing emojis. Because actually, what’s happening with the NDIS and Australia’s future bankruptcy is just the background to this story anyway. The background against which this remarkable story unfolds because a butcher by the name of Trevor Fer is facing potential bankruptcy himself if wage inspector at Victoria have their way and successfully impose up to half a million in fines onto Trevor for the crime of successfully helping a kid in crisis and a family in need.

My name’s Topher Field. This is the Topher project and I help busy people like you to cut through the crap and make sense of the nonsense that surrounds us. I’m 100% viewer supported. And this story was actually brought to me by a viewer, Alan. Thank you. You know who you are. And yes, I do eventually read most of my messages. I don’t get to them all, unfortunately, but I do try. And for those that bring stories like this one to my attention, I am very grateful. Now, you can help me to keep the Topher project going by buying me a coffee via the button at topherfield.net. And make sure you check out my books, DVDs, and merch at goodpeoplebreakbadlaws.com.

One of the principles of libertarianism and I am a libertarian. That is my political philosophy. One of the key principles of libertarianism is that there is no crime if there is no victim. There’s no such thing as a victimless crime. But the government loves to invent crimes even when there is no victim. Or as in this case, even when the alleged victim is actually grateful and better off than they would have been had this alleged crime not been committed. I’m going to read this article from the Geelong Advertiser from start to finish because I think that this journalist Eddie Russell has done a good job covering this story.

Family backs butcher in child job case.
A Grovedale butcher faces fines exceeding $500,000 for hiring an underage worker, but the teen’s family says the job transformed their struggling son’s life.

A Grove small business faces fines of more than $500,000 for breaching child employment laws. But the family of the teen employee at the center of it all are mortified by the charges, saying work helped to turn their son’s life around.

Wage inspector at Victoria alleges Grovedale quality meets employed a child under the age of 15 without a license as well as contravene laws relating to work during school hours and maximum permitted working hours. The maximum penalties for these offenses are $244,000 and $20,000 respectively.

Armstrong Creek resident Nick Terry said his son Cayenne, now 16, was suffering severe mental health issues and refusing to go to school before he began working at the Peter Street Butchers. But now all concerns for Cayenne’s health have been alleviated after shop owner Trevor Fer stepped in and pulled the boy out of the rut. Trevor took Cayenne under his wing, supported him holistically, and gave him everything that he needed. Mr. Terry said it was an amazing turnaround. Cayenne rebuilt his confidence is motivated and now excels at school.

Mr. Terry said that his family were disappointed with the legal action and that Mr. Ford should be treated as a hero and not a criminal.

It’s at best an administrative error. There was certainly no malice or ill intent and my firm view is Trevor does not deserve it. He nurtures such a safe working environment for the juniors, is invested in every single employee. You wouldn’t get a more decent bloke. He runs such an amazing business. It’s just not okay.

Cayenne’s mom, Mel, is a full-time employee at Grovedale Quality Meets and worked alongside her son, who is autistic, every shift.

I’m going to read that paragraph again because if you weren’t already pissed off at the Victorian wage inspectorate, you sure as hell should be after reading this paragraph. Cayenne’s mom, the boy’s mom, Mel Terry, is a full-time employee at Grovedale Quality Meets and worked alongside her son who is autistic every shift.

Mr. Terry insisted Mel ensured Cayenne always took his minimum breaks and checked on his welfare frequently. Cayenne is now completing an apprenticeship at the butchers.

In a statement, lawyers speaking on behalf of Grovedale Quality Meets said the business had a proud history of employment and cooperating with the wage inspectorate. Grovedale Quality Meets takes its employer obligations seriously and has an exemplary record in terms of wages and safety and compliance. The statement said the young man in question was hired with the consent and approval of his mother who also works in the business. Grovedale Quality Meets has obtained child employment license from WIVV and will continue to offer employment opportunities for young people in the area.

Wage inspector at Victoria said the matter will be heard on August 28th at the Melbourne Magistrate’s Court, but it is understood this will likely be adjourned. End of article.

Thanks to this amazing small business owner, a young man who wasn’t going to school and had lost his way, had the opportunity to work alongside his own mother, learning new skills, getting his head back in the game, and now this young man is doing an apprenticeship, and the government is coming in to punish the business owner who was responsible for that turnaround.

Moments like this are why we have the phrase, “Go [….] yourself.” To every person at Wage Inspector at Victoria who has decided to punish this butcher with a prosecution for rescuing a kid from self-destruction, go [….] yourself. There is no victim here. Therefore, there is no crime. and running around inventing crimes to justify your worthless paper pushing busybody job is disgusting.

This is a wonderful story about how loving parents supported by a caring community figured out what this young man needed and they were right and they saved him.

This young man was headed for a life of mental health problems and very likely headed towards being welfare dependent and a lifelong drain on other hardworking Aussies as a result. And in a short space of time, they turned his life around. And now he’s getting a useful trade as a butcher, something we very much need more of in this country. He’s back at school and doing well. And surprise, surprise, now that he’s contributing in a meaningful way to his own life and future, his mental health issues have improved.

We should be broadcasting this story from the rooftops in celebration and holding up this family and this butcher as an example of community done right. But no, it wasn’t a government program. The bureaucrats didn’t get to take their slice of the action. So now they want their pound of flesh. No one except the government thinks that there’s a crime to be punished here.

Oh, but they should have followed the rules. No. Rules against helping young people in crisis to find their feet by whatever means necessary should not exist. Oh, but we can’t have children working instead of going to school. Why not?

I lied about my age to start working 32 hours a week at a Pizza Hut when I was 13 years of age. And you bet I was working during school hours. Now, the managers figured out pretty quick that I’d like to get that job, but they turned a blind eye to it because I was a great worker and that job was the best thing for me at that time. Just like working in this butcher is the best thing for this 15-year-old. Not all of us are made to sit in a classroom, having our heads stuffed with worthless propaganda in the name of education. Some of us need to get out of those walls and start to experience what it’s like to live and work and earn and make our own choices and mistakes in life. If turning this kid’s life around involves breaking rules, then those rules should not exist. And the bureaucrats running this prosecution should be fired and required to go and spend a few years working a real job. I suggest they start by getting an apprenticeship as a butcher. Might be a great place for them to start, although admittedly they might be scared of getting cut by something other than paper.

This is the problem with government. All government at every level.

They are a solution in search of a problem and they get rewarded for finding problems whether those problems actually exist or not, for spotting crimes whether there is a victim or not. And therefore the entire incentive of every government employee is to increase public dependence on government and to punish individuals who are independent, because the greatest threat to the bureaucracy is not a different election result forcing a change of politicians, but rather it’s that the people realize that we are better off without those bureaucrats in the first place. And us forcing these career bureaucrats to have a change of career so they can no longer be these bureaucratic taxpayer teeth-sucking parasites that they are, prosecuting this man for turning a kid’s life around. This is unacceptable. Go [ ….] yourself.

I call on every Victorian politician, both federal and state, to denounce this pathetic and petty prosecution by the wage inspectorate literally punishing a good deed at a time when we know that we have record levels of autism. At a time when the government has belatedly realized that we can’t afford to have all of these people on the NDIS just because of mild to moderate autism. Community solutions should be celebrated. Good Samaritans like Trevor and his butcher shop, not punishing him with faceless cowardly bureaucrats at the wage inspectorate who are ever in search of ways to help us to death.

Australians need to rediscover that phrase, “Go [… ] yourself.” And we need to direct it at every bureaucrat and every politician who makes it their business to punish people for doing good things for their own communities. Because this nonsense, it doesn’t end until we say so. There is no point at which these busy-bodied bureaucrats with their ever more tangled spider’s web of rules ever look at Australia and say, “You know what? I think we’re done here. I think we’ve written enough rules and the time has come to just leave everyone alone and let them get on with their lives in peace.”

That day will never come. Bureaucrats will never say that. These busy bodies will not stop voluntarily. They won’t stop at all until there’s enough of us saying no. Go [….] yourself. And if this isn’t a perfect opportunity for us all to start, then I don’t know what is.

My name’s Topher Field. This is the Topher Project and I help busy people like you to cut through the crap and make sense of the nonsense that surrounds us. I am 100% viewer supported and you can help to keep the Topher project going by buying me a coffee via the button at topherfield.net. And you can check out my books, DVDs, and merch at goodpeoplebreakbadlaws.com.

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