By Patrick Avenell
Harvey Norman chairman Gerry Harvey is quoted in today’s Fairfax papers as being quoted in a new book criticising charity for “no hopers”. In these amusing extracts, Harvey says he’s happy to give money to help people realise their potential, but giving money to the homeless is just a “waste”.
"You could go out and give a million dollars to a charity tomorrow to help the homeless. You could argue that it is just wasted. They are not putting anything back into the community,” said Harvey.
"It might be a callous way of putting it but what are they doing? You are helping a whole heap of no-hopers to survive for no good reason. They are just a drag on the whole community.
"So did that million you gave them help? It helped to keep them alive but did it help our society? No. Society might have been better off without them but we are supposed to look after the disadvantaged and so we do it. But it doesn’t help the society."
"That is not to say we don’t give money away to charities because we have given plenty away over the years. At the end of the day, the more quality individuals you develop in the community, the better off the community should be."
The original article from the Sydney Morning Herald can be found here. The quotations are originally sourced from the book Master CEOs, which is by Matthew Kidman.
Is your organisation doing something for the community? Tell me about it.