Rick Wilson (O'Connor, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

After a long hard-fought campaign, the Australian Senate last night approved legislation which allows the trial of a cashless debit card to go ahead in the Goldfields. Months of uncertainty have ended and, with the endorsement of both houses of parliament, I believe we'll see the rollout of this card start within a matter of weeks. We are going to see some real change in the Goldfields, change that will help break the cycle of welfare dependency, alcohol abuse and decades of generational disadvantage. This card will result in a community where welfare payments are spent on the essentials of life: food, clothing, shelter and transport.

I'd like to start by thanking the former Minister for Human Services, Alan Tudge, and his team, who worked so hard to get us to this juncture. I thank the current Minister for Social Services, Dan Tehan, who kept the momentum going to pass this through the lower house and now the Senate. I thank the departmental team working on the ground in the Goldfields and the community implementation groups who are poised to start transitioning participants onto the card as soon as possible.

I'm grateful for the support of the entire Goldfields community, but I'd like to make special mention of Indigenous leaders like Leonora's Nana Gaye Harris, who started the ball rolling in 2015 when she spoke to me after a spate of youth suicides. I thank Laverton's Bruce Smith and Janice Scott, who moved an entire room to tears with their heart-wrenching account of children living on the streets of Laverton, abandoned by parents on the grog. I acknowledge the powerful words of respected Ngadju woman, Betty Logan, and her niece, Amanda Bennell, who I am privileged to have with us here in the chamber. They challenged the naysayers to look into the eyes of a child suffering the effects of foetal alcohol syndrome, to look into the faces of kids who are begging for food on the street late at night—children not safe in their homes—and not feel compassion. I thank our Goldfields police, who work under the most difficult of circumstances on the frontline when alcohol fuelled violence erupts or when lives are tragically cut short. I thank the civic leaders of the Goldfields: Laverton Shire's president, Patrick Hill; Leonora's Jim Epis and Peter Craig; Jill Dwyer and Ian Tucker from the shire of Menzies; Coolgardie's Mal Cullen and James Traill; and Mayor John Bowler and CEO John Walker from the City of Kalgoorlie. All have fought hard for this card to help the communities they know and love. I thank my Goldfields residents who supported this card by signing my petitions or responding to my community survey. Your support—all of the above—was my inspiration when the knockers spoke louder than those who supported the card.

This card trial will be a new approach, because persisting with a system that has failed an entire generation of people is madness. I've spoken to hundreds of people in the Goldfields over the last two years, but the words of a young Aboriginal man from Leonora, who asked not to be named, have resonated with me. He quoted Albert Einstein, who once said, 'The definition of madness is to keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect to see a different result.' The people who are against this card are just afraid of change, and we need this change.

Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for O'Connor. It's great to have your guests here today.