Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I must take issue with some things the member for Lyons has just raised, certainly when it comes to age pensioners. There was no intention of the former government to put age pensioners on the cashless debit card.

I've heard the member for Bruce speak about this many times in the House, and for his information: there are age pensioners on the cashless debit card. Do you know how they can get there? They have to request it. If they don't like it, do you know how they get off it? They have to request it. That's why age pensioners are on the cashless debit card: because they want to be there, because it protects them against the humbug, the bullying and the violence that accompanies many of these families when there is a drug addict or an alcoholic in the family. So, they seek that protection, as do many other people.

The community of Ceduna led Australia in the cashless debit card trial. And I make the point that the 80-20 split was suggested by the Far West Aboriginal Communities Leaders Group. The Far West Aboriginal Communities Leaders Group was instrumental in the rollout of the card in Ceduna. The current Minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, has been to Ceduna three times and refused to meet with the council or the Far West Aboriginal Communities Leaders Group, because they didn't agree with her point of view. They didn't agree with the view of the Indigenous Affairs minister that the card should be rolled up. They actually want the card to keep going. The people of Ceduna have once again voted in a strong majority to return me to the position of Grey; 62 per cent of them voted for Rowan Ramsey. They know my position on this. I think that's a pretty fair marker on their opinion.

It's worth remembering that the introduction of this card came about as part of the response to the South Australian coroner's report delivered by Anthony Schapel in 2011. Six Indigenous people, as it turned out, had died in recent times, in the five years leading up to that in Ceduna. By the time he finished his inquiry, it was seven—all alcohol-related deaths. He said, when he'd been to Ceduna, 'It's a bleak picture of local alcohol abuse, chronic sickness and self neglect.' A cashless debit card is by no means a silver bullet, and we've had issues since. But I can tell you, Ceduna is not the place it was in 2011. It is vastly improved and—touch wood—as far as I know we have not had a similar death in the decade since. That's really quite stunning.

I don't know what the future will bring, but there's a part of me that says there will be deaths as a result of the rolling up of this cashless debit card. I think, and so do many of the people of Ceduna, that we are heading back to the bad old days. There were a couple of occasions in the last two or three years when a stream of cash came through to the other half of the cashless debit card—to their normal account, if you like, where the 20 per cent goes. One of them was around a superannuation issue, working for the CDP, and it was cashed out. And there was another one, and I just can't remember what it was, but it resulted in cash in pocket, and we ended up with a flood of remote people coming into Ceduna, maybe in the first instance to access medical services, but not going home because they got on the grog, they got on the drugs, they got on the gambling machines and they would not go home. And we've got an issue at the moment with the CDP, which is no longer requiring presentation for work, which is adding to that difficulty. But, certainly, rolling up the card can only force Ceduna to go backwards.

I often visit Ceduna. On a recent visit, I dropped in to a number of businesses. I dropped in to one of the schools; there are two there. We were talking to three administration workers. They all told me they were fearful of what Ceduna would become with the abolition of the cashless debit card. Certainly, they are not looking for the removal of it. There are people in Ceduna that want to see it removed—of course there are; there is always a contrary opinion. But I thought we came to this place because we believed in democracy and that the majority should have their view. I have absolutely no doubt that the majority of people in Ceduna want the cashless debit card to continue.

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