Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Hansard source

I don't know how many times I have stood in this place to talk about this issue of income management, but I thought I would talk about this issue—hopefully, for the last time in this place—and the Social Security (Administration) Amendment (Income Management Reform) Bill 2023. I want to share with the parliament my experiences, both prior to becoming a member of parliament and also as, I think, being one of the few members who actually travelled out to Ceduna and over to the Hinkler electorate, where I sat down and met with organisations and people who were participants in this card.

First of all, obviously, what we have before us now is the second bill in this space since we had a change in government. The first bill was to abolish the cashless debit card; that impacted around 17½ thousand cashless debit card participants but it retained mandatory income management in the Northern Territory and on Cape York. It made some income management voluntary for some people—for people living in locations that were formerly subject to the cashless debit card. To my thinking, the primary bill that was before this place really put the cart before the horse. It ceased the cashless debit card program before transitional arrangements were put in place, and I think it's fair to say that what we saw in many locations really was chaos. Then of course we have this bill to address some of those challenges.

I have to say that working with people who are from communities which experience intergenerational poverty and welfare dependence is really challenging work. I know this from before I was in parliament. In fact, I worked for the Department for Communities and Social Inclusion, the South Australian department that was working with the federal government to implement this card and make sure that there were a whole heap of services wrapped around people in Ceduna. I also worked in the youth sector. I wasn't a social worker but I managed teams of people, youth workers and social workers, who worked with young people, many of whom were third- and fourth-generation welfare dependent people. No-one in their communities had been able to transition successfully from high school into employment. Unfortunately, they had lives of enormous dysfunction, hardship and heartbreak.

The great problem with this card and with all of the debates that have happened in this place is that much of it has been based on ideology rather than what is good public policy. In the previous parliament—in fact, I think it was probably two parliaments ago—I went to Ceduna. This was when the card was going to be extended. We'd had various university trials, and they were flawed. Some of them didn't start with a baseline. Others were really subjective—going up to people on the corner and saying, 'Hey, how do you feel about being on income management?' and when people said, 'No, I don't like it,' they'd put a tick in the negative column.

So I went out to Ceduna and thought, 'Let's see what this is really like.' I talked to people in the pubs. I went into the pokie room, and that was empty. I was told that it was so lovely that the pokie room was empty because before the card the pokie room was full. The front bar was full. I went and met with organisations—Red Cross and a whole suite of organisations in Ceduna. They were too afraid to be called out and say how well the card was working, so they'd sort of whisper to me: 'It's working really well. We're starting to see people change behaviours. People are no longer walking around carrying a four-litre container of alcohol under their arm. We're seeing more kids going to school. We're seeing fewer people seeking emergency supports.'

The challenges in Ceduna were that while there were a lot of frontline services, they didn't have a back office to them; they were very superficial. We didn't have any long-term stays for drug and alcohol dependence; it was just a sobering-up unit. You'd go in there, sober up and be out in the morning. I also note that there were very few supports around training to get people off welfare—and that's the point. The point is that we need to support people to change their lives, to be able to get that training, to be able to get a job and to be able to have a life of fulfilment.

Then I travelled to the Hinkler electorate. During the last election we heard the cashless debit card often labelled a racist card. But in Hinkler it was the whole electorate—if you were under 35 and you were on JobSeeker or Newstart, you were on the cashless debit card. As previous speakers have said, it's not your whole income; it was 80 per cent that was quarantined so that you could not spend it on alcohol and drugs. So I went to the Hinkler electorate and I went with an open mind. I met with police. I met with the council. I might also backtrack: I also met with the council when I was in Ceduna, and they said there'd been enormous change. The impact was right across the community. They were getting tourists back, people were not feeling afraid, there was not the level of alcohol and antisocial behaviour in the community. Fast forward to Hinkler.

I went to Hinkler and I met with a whole range of organisations. What struck me was that there was a supermarket that you could go to that was a bit like a Foodbank, where you could go and get low-cost food items. When the cashless debit card was introduced in Hinkler, they had an uptick in people actually spending money on food. They had an uptick in kids attending school. I met with the police there, and they were initially quite concerned about what the impact would be of the cashless debit card in that area. They said to me: 'It's a really positive thing. Keep it going.' I even met with St Vinnies and had a cup of tea with their people. I took the time to meet with people who were on the cashless debit card. Many of them were angry, and I can appreciate that they did not want to have their money quarantined, and that they did not spend 80 per cent on alcohol and gambling and drugs. But they couldn't say to me what they would otherwise have spent that money on that they were precluded from spending their money on. The way that we have managed this in this place is really quite shameful. I think that we need to work with people to address their addictions.

I haven't gone back to Ceduna. When I was there Ceduna was a really beautiful place, and I have heard that in Ceduna crime has increased. It has doubled. Leonora and Laverton Shire presidents are reported as saying that the surge in violence was directly attributed to the abolition of card and the community was a safer place because of the cashless debit card.

There was so much talk about how Indue was managing the card. There was a whole campaign around the fact that Indue was managing the card. From my understanding, Indue's going to manage this SmartCard, so what is the difference?

We need to work comprehensively with people who are from communities. It's an investment we need to make in people. I think that this card had enormous benefit to change lives. There were many people who were too afraid to say out loud that when they were on the card they we able to save money, they were able to put food in the cupboard for their children and they were able to address challenges in their lives, and, moreover, the society improved.

Not too long ago I drove through western New South Wales and through much of the member for Grey's electorate and I've got to say it's a very, very sad sight. We need to do a lot more in this place. But a part of it is also helping people to spend the money that taxpayers provide to people who don't have a job. I think it is incumbent on people who are receiving those benefits to spend their money wisely. That means you're spending your money on food, you're looking for a job, you're making sure your kids are fed and clothed and you get them to school. And if we need to support people with respect to addiction management we absolutely must do that, because we must invest in them, but it is a two-way contract.

I support this bill because we need to fix up what was, I think, a knee-jerk reaction after the election and very rushed legislation. From someone who did spend considerable time and met with as many community groups and individuals as I could in two locations where the cashless card happened, I think it's a great shame how this has come out in this place.

See this speech in context