Rick Wilson (O'Connor, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak today to correct some of the inaccuracies I've heard from some of the previous contributors. I'd invite the member for Indi to stay for a moment because I will point out where she has misled the House—and perhaps she might like to correct the record. It is good to see that so many of my colleagues have turned up to hear my contribution today.

Government members: Hear, hear!

Thank you so much. You are intensely interested in this initiative by the government. Let me talk about how the cashless debit card came to be implemented across the Goldfields. It is centred on Kalgoorlie and the surrounding shires of Leonora, Laverton, Coolgardie and Menzies. Late in 2015, in the small town of Leonora, a town of around 250 people, a high proportion of whom are local Indigenous families, two 16-year-old girls committed suicide. It transpired that those girls had been subjected to abuse from people badly affected by alcohol. I was at the Leonora Hotel and one of the local Aboriginal elders came to me and said: 'We're in despair. We don't know what we can do. We don't know where to turn.' Nanna Gaye Harris was the catalyst for me calling the then minister, Alan Tudge, who within days flew to Leonora. The minister and I sat down with the Leonora Shire Council and the local Aboriginal leaders and discussed a concept, a trial, which had been begun in Ceduna in the electorate of my very good friend and colleague the member for Grey. While it was early days, the anecdotal evidence was that it was making a massive difference in people's lives. Subsequently, we conducted 270 consultations. There were people who complained later that they didn't have their opportunity, that they didn't get to a consultation, but 270 consultations conducted by the Department of Social Services was a huge undertaking and most people got the opportunity to have some input. Those five shires were all very proactive in promoting the possibility of a card trial for changing some of their communities. Some of the Aboriginal elders across the broader trial space—the beautiful Betty Logan and Bruce Smith, people that I've worked very closely with on this for four to five years now—have seen an incredible change in the way their communities operate.

Member for Indi, you made the comment that stores are blocked. You have no understanding of how the card works. I have an Indue card. I have a cashless debit card. I use that card the same as I would use any VISA card at any retail outlet anywhere in the world—

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