Linda Burney (Barton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Families and Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

I rise not to speak against the amendments but to make it very clear where Labor sits in relation to this piece of legislation. It has been five years since the government started the so-called trial of the cashless debit card. It hasn't worked. The government has provided no evidence that it has worked, and not enough community support is obvious. The government has spent $2.5 million on a University of Adelaide report they refused to release. This raises enormous suspicion about the content of that particular report. The member for Bass, in this place, a member of government, said:

Applying a broad brush to all recipients in the current sites, no matter their circumstances, is harmful and unhelpful.

There's a high level of anxiety that exists elsewhere in the country beyond the three trial sites. In the northern Tasmanian community that I proudly represent, I've had distressed people, including pensioners, ask me if they will end up having their income managed. And with the amount of time and money spent in addressing the current challenges of this program, it is difficult to believe that this program will end with these current sites.

Last night in the Senate, the minister was repeatedly asked and repeatedly refused to give a guarantee that this card would not be expanded, both geographically and to other Centrelink recipients on other payments. Matt Canavan, earlier in the week, called for a national rollout—I'll talk about that in a little while. It is clear there is a plan for a national rollout. Technology working groups with the banks, supermarkets and Australia Post have been established. The government has spent $3 million improving technology. The only reason to do this is if you are planning a national rollout to more places and more people. The member for Bass in this place also said:

I also have a fundamental problem with how this program and this legislation aligns with my own principles. As a Liberal, I believe in personal and individual responsibility. It's the very foundation of our core principles. We work towards a lean government that minimises interference in our daily lives. Forcing the cashless debit card program on to people unless, or until, they can prove to the government that they can manage their own finances is antithetical to these principles. Do these principles only apply if you're not poor? I believe we're better than that.

Senator Lambie, in the Senate said last night, said:

But I've always said to the government: if you want to make this thing happen, you can't let the card be the only thing you do. It's not a magic wand. You can't wave it at people and expect things to somehow get better, because the problems that you see in the trial sites need a lot more than the cashless debit card to fix, and that's what I heard every time I went to the trial sites. I heard it in the Northern Territory too. Those people up there can't live better lives with just the cashless debit card. They need jobs, they need medical facilities, they need counsellors and they need skills training.

Last night Senator Patrick, in the other place, said:

In the end, weighing up all the evidence, the difficulty for me is that the government has not made out its case. When I balance up everything I've seen, unfortunately, the data to support the concept that the card will achieve what it is intended to achieve is not there.

The government has made a mistake, let me assure you, pressing ahead with this watered down bill. The government's amendments are a backdown and an acknowledgement that there is community anxiety about this card. It is a kick and an affront to those thousands of Australians who have done nothing wrong. This government has consistently failed to— (Time expired)

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