David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to speak about an important new policy initiative being trialled in my local community, in the Bankstown area. That is the government's new drug-testing trial for welfare recipients. This is a very important policy because the reality is that, if people are on welfare and are addicted to drugs, they will struggle to get a job in the first instance. That's the reality. The second reality is that, if they do get a job, they will struggle to hold it down if they're drug addicted. This policy will test people who are receiving Newstart benefits and, if they are found to be on drugs, they will go onto an income management card for 80 per cent of their benefit. Basically, they will still get the same amount of money, but they will no longer be able to use their welfare payments to buy drugs. That's good for the welfare recipient, and it is also good for taxpayers. Frankly, people in my community do not want to see their tax payments redistributed to drug dealers. They don't want their tax payments to underwrite the lifestyle of drug dealers. That's why this is a very important policy. It's good for the person who is drug addicted because it will help them to get off drugs and it's also very important in demonstrating that taxpayers' money is being protected. Those opposite, shamefully, are opposing this trial. They should support it wholeheartedly, just like my community does.