Malarndirri McCarthy (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

In September 2019, I stood in this place to deliver a statement about this government's plans to impose a cashless debit card on 23,000 people in the Northern Territory. I spoke about the depth of feeling of powerlessness that the Territorians, particularly First Nations people, felt about this plan to impose yet another heavy layer of management on them. Territorians have been very, very clear in their opposition to this government's plans to put welfare recipients onto the CDC. We knew that the government knew back then, after 12 years of having the BasicsCard system under the Northern Territory National Emergency Response—that is, the Intervention imposed in the Northern Territory—there is little to no evidence that compulsory income management results in widespread or long-term benefit. This was strongly supported in the evidence given to the Senate inquiry.

The CEO of the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory, John Paterson, told the inquiry:

This feels like the Howard era Intervention all over again. The last time the government intervened in the NT, and did things to us instead of with us, it failed at great cost to families and communities.

The government knew there was no evidence to prove the cashless debit card had actually worked, to do what it was supposed to do—that is, bring in widespread benefit and support for the families receiving support payments and for the communities. They knew there were serious questions about the harm the card may be causing to families and communities, and the stigma and the shame associated with its use. Despite that, the government moved ahead last year with plans to bring the cashless debit card into the Northern Territory and make it a permanent fixture in the trial communities across Australia. That was before they had the results of the $2.5 million report they commissioned into those card trial sites. This government wanted to impose this card permanently on thousands of Australians without even waiting for the evidence. Perhaps that's because they knew the evidence just was not there.

The long-awaited report into the cashless debit card was finally released last week. It's inconclusive on whether it reduces harm from alcohol, drugs and gambling. It has found that people on the welfare cards are ashamed and embarrassed. The report conducted by the University of Adelaide and commissioned by the federal Department of Social Services looked at how the program had impacted participants in the communities of Ceduna in South Australia, the East Kimberley and the Goldfields in Western Australia, where the card has been trialled. Commissioned in 2018, the University of Adelaide's report on the cashless debit card looked at whether alcohol and drug use, violence and gambling reduced during trials of the card in Ceduna, East Kimberley and the Goldfields, but the study found no conclusive evidence in relation to those issues.

The report tells us nothing we didn't know and is a complete waste of time and money. Yet, this government continues to put its head in the sand over the issue. And why is that? Why is the government so hell-bent on inflicting heavy-handed, punishing policy on welfare recipients? I'll tell you why. It's because demonising and degrading people who find themselves in positions where they can't work or find work, who are in tough times and need support, is in part of this government's DNA. We saw that yesterday clearly with the disgusting social media comments, in particular made by the member for Bowman, Andrew Laming MP. While he was supposedly at work in the other place on the taxpayer dime, this person was busy making comments on the social media pages of the groups who oppose the CDC. I'll quote from the member's post. He wrote, 'This card is merely to prohibit sinful activities.' That's how this government regards those Australians who have fallen on tough times and those who rely on disability pensions—young people, single parents and pensioners. Being poor is a sin, according to Mr Laming.

Not content with labelling people who receive social security payments as sinners, he went on to mock people whose mental health has suffered from the punitive policies of his government, writing: 'All that money they can't spend on alcohol, gambling and drugs. Keen to meet that person for whom their mental health is affected. Send them to my office. Keen to do an intro.' But he hasn't stopped there. He went on to suggest young people would spend all their payments on alcohol or drugs. Why am I telling the Senate this? I am telling the Senate because we do expect senators and members of the House of Representatives to hold high standards. People in our society who are vulnerable certainly don't deserve to be stigmatised even more by their federal representatives. We don't know the reasons why so many people in our country are vulnerable or their personal stories as to why they've fallen on hard times or why it is that they need to rely on Commonwealth support. We don't need to know the ins and outs of their personal reasons. But we certainly need to know how to behave and how to respond, genuinely and sincerely, by trying to address the issues in a practical way and in a respectful way.

I call on Mr Laming to apologise to those vulnerable Australians who have been hurt and stigmatised by his unnecessary comments. Certainly, on behalf of the 23,000 Territorians who've been characterised as sinners, drug takers and alcoholics, I demand that he apologise for those comments, maybe look at this issue more pragmatically and respectfully and put forward the arguments in a way that actually support whatever it is his government wants to do without further stigmatising those groups who, through being identified by this report of the University of Adelaide, have been embarrassed enough about needing to rely on welfare.

While we were successful last year in opposing the government's plans to put 23,000 Territorians onto the card, we know that the government is still trying to bring it in by stealth. I was hopeful that this government and the minister would take a new approach and listen to First Nations people and communities in the Territory who have innovative ideas and solutions to these issues. First Nations people—in particular, many of the organisations in the Northern Territory—have come forward with practical solutions for you, Minister. For example, the Arnhem Land Progress Aboriginal Corporation has come forward with the particular card that it had initiated even prior to the Northern Territory intervention in 2007. This card was quite universal and supportive and was obviously something that the communities had established themselves, without the shame and embarrassment of being stigmatised for having to use it.

If a community genuinely wants to use the cashless debit card, they should be properly consulted and provided with the necessary supports. I understand that that still is not occurring. Labor is certainly not opposed to income management in all circumstances, but we are opposed to the broad-based compulsory programs that ensnare and disempower all people and we are opposed to this government's approach of punishing, deriding and further stigmatising people in our country who do live in poverty.