Peter Georgiou (WA, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

I've listened to the drama and hysteria coming from the other side of the chamber in relation to the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Cashless Debit Card Trial Expansion) Bill 2018, and, I've got to say, it's melodrama at its finest. Honestly, some of you in here are worthy of an Oscar. The theatre in here is first-class. Right now, there are three trial areas for the cashless welfare card: one in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, one in Western Australia's Goldfields and the other in Ceduna in South Australia. I wonder how many of you in here have been to these trial sites. I've been to Kalgoorlie-Boulder a few times, once with Senator Hanson for a Senate hearing into the card, and, in all my dealings and all my conversations with community leaders, they've done nothing but hail and praise the cashless welfare card. In fact, Senator McAllister, who spoke earlier, may be interested in this. I have a media release from the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder where the local mayor, John Bowler—who, I might add, is a former state Labor minister—said the card 'is a success'.

The thing to remember here is that the cashless welfare card trial is exactly that: it's a trial. Labor and the Greens want to pour cold water over it, but let's hear from the horse's mouth about some of the successes of this card in some of these areas. Police are reporting that the level of antisocial behaviour on the streets is clearly down. Bottle-shop retailers report that there are considerably fewer disturbances around their premises. Mr Bowler, the mayor of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, went on to say that loopholes, whereby card recipients were finding ways of obtaining cash or liquor on the cashless part of the welfare card, were being shut down and that the number of complaints was falling as the cardholders themselves learnt that in most cases the level of inconvenience was minimal. A media statement also refers to one liquor retailer who reported that the card had seen a decrease in sales of liquor in general through his bottle shop and that this measure, combined with the responsible service of alcohol, had seen a decline in store incidents and street drinking in the vicinity. This is a statement from the Mayor of Kalgoorlie-Boulder only five days ago. He has heaped praise on the welfare card. I'd be more inclined to believe the local leader than some of the antics that go on in here, especially from those senators who are always pandering to their ideological agendas.