Christian Porter's "moral imperative" is deeply personal for me.

The Social Services Minister is using actuarial data to identify the budget costs of people who, being among the most at risk of systemic exclusion from employment, need the most social support. He intends to use this data to revamp the way social security payments are made, to whom and under what conditions. As he said during his press club speech this week: "The future foundation measure of success must be whether we can improve individual prospects for a better life, made meaningful by employment, community contribution and self-reliance."

Minister for Social Services Christian Porter wants to revamp the way social security payments are made, to whom and under what conditions. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

I am one of those people who relied on social security. It is possible I might have even fitted under the largely undefined and widely bandied-about Orwellian term "welfare dependant". I relied on youth allowance in my teenage years to keep me in school, fed and clothed. Without rent assistance I'd likely have been homeless. I was on such small payments and so afraid of a life without employment that there were many times I nearly dropped my studies early to go into work.

Eventually there was a job offer to sell computer equipment at Harvey Norman with the proviso "You can do this job, Ben. You'll probably be good at it. It'll be great for me to have you in the team. But you really have to ask yourself 'is this what I want to do with my life?' because I'm not sure it really is. Think about it and I'll call you tomorrow." It wasn't. And while I've met some lovely, happy salespeople I don't think I'd have cut it in the long run, and I've always been thankful for that man's guidance.