Michael Sukkar (Deakin, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

The coalition will be supporting these amendments. These amendments, thankfully, provide greater transparency and help hold the government to account as it dismantles the former very successful cashless debit card program. It is disappointing to note that, in the other place, the government didn't see fit to support a range of other commonsense amendments to publish details of key metrics, sadly, of social harm that we are now seeing as a result of the cashless debit card being abolished: rates of violent crime; presentations to hospital emergency departments; ambulance callouts; drug or alcohol related callouts; reportable incidents of domestic violence—sadly, all of which we're seeing now rise as a result of this government's decision to abolish the cashless debit card. As I've said all along, the coalition will always work to strengthen income management, and we've committed, and today I'll recommit, to reinstate the cashless debit card in communities who seek to have it, so that payments that taxpayers make can be spent on food for children—not on alcohol, gambling and drugs, which is being allowed by the actions of this government.

Question agreed to.

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