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 measures that government has taken to assist people to move from welfare into work, particularly in my electorate of O'Connor?

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

I'd like to thank the member for his question. As the member knows, the coalition believes that the best form of welfare is a job. It is why we have put in place policies that have delivered over 1,100 jobs a day, and we have seen 140,000 people move off welfare. I was with the member for O'Connor in his electorate last week to see how the cashless debit card was being implemented in his electorate. The card is being rolled out in the goldfields of Western Australia, and the member and all his local councils support that rollout because they know it is a very worthwhile trial.

As we heard when we met with mayors, council CEOs and Indigenous and community leaders, they want this card because they want to try something new. Western Australian police data has indicated that the domestic and non-domestic assault rate in the Goldfields is more than twice the state average. Alcohol-related hospitalisations and deaths were 25 per cent higher than the Western Australia state average in 2007-11. The Shire of Laverton 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.

Now that the card has begun to be rolled out, community leaders who supported the card are already beginning to see the beneficial impact. The departmental shopfronts have provided more than 1,000 face-to-face customer interactions. More than 2,600 cards have been issued, and 80 per cent of people have self-activated their cards over the phone or online. The community told us stories of people starting to put food in their cupboards, starting to feed their children and starting to take care of themselves. I was told how the check-outs were seeing less alcohol and more food and essentials being bought. They commented that they had seen families buy groceries that they had never seen in the store before.

I'd like to commend the member for O'Connor for his passion in making sure that this card was trialled in his electorate. The outcomes already are very worthwhile, and he is to be absolutely commended for what he has done.

Can I say that, given these stories and what we've seen in Ceduna and in the East Kimberly as well, I would ask all members of this House to back legislation which will try and expand the trial to Hinkler next week. This is incredibly important work which can change lives, and we should all support it.