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

My question is to the Minister for Social Services. Will the minister update the House on the cashless debit card and the government's plans to expand its operation into new regions? How has the government's approach been received by local communities, including in my electorate of O'Connor?

Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can I thank the member for his question, and I know that he will welcome the news overnight that the cashless debit card legislation went through the Senate. He'll welcome the support from this side, and he'll welcome the support from the crossbenchers, but I know he'll be disappointed that the Labor Party and the Greens weren't able to support it in the Senate last night. It has to come back to the House—it will probably come back today—so I would ask the Labor Party to reconsider their position, because not only do we want to roll this out in Kalgoorlie but we'd also like to roll it out in Hinkler as well. Their support would be invaluable in that cause.

The reason we want to roll out the cashless debit card is because it is making a difference to people's lives on the ground. Those communities were looking for outcomes; they were sick of being told that policies would work when they weren't working. I quote, from the Senate inquiry into the bill in late 2017, the Shire of Leonora CEO, Mr Jim Epis, who said:

In the last three years, it has been devastating to see the escalation of antisocial behaviour between individuals caused by alcohol and drugs. This has often reached crisis levels.

The Shire of Laverton's president, Mr Patrick Hill, told the committee: 'We are at wit's end. We want to see a safe community. We don't want to see this abuse. We don't want to see kids running around with dirty nappies on for a couple of days and no clothes.' We need to do something. We know that the cashless debit card won't be the panacea for all these social issues, but we know, if we trial it, if we measure it, if we make sure we follow up, if we put the support service around it, it could make a big difference, and that's why we want to trial it.

Can I say to the Attorney-General, can I say to Minister Alan Tudge, can I say to the member for O'Connor, can I say to the member for Hinkler: thank you for your advocacy on behalf of this card, because when we're seeing a reduction in the use of alcohol by nearly 50 per cent, when we're seeing a reduction in drug use of nearly 50 per cent, when we're seeing a reduction in gambling of nearly 40 per cent, we can put our hands on our hearts and say, 'At least we are trying something new.'