Malarndirri McCarthy (NT, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Indigenous Australians) Share this | Hansard source

Let me tell you, the cashless debit card was flawed from the very beginning, and our government was formed on the platform of no-one being left behind and no-one being held back. The evidence presented to us showed that many CDC participants forced to use the card felt marginalised, embarrassed, and reported a loss of freedom and choice.

Now, let me remind this Senate of a bit of history. It's interesting to hear the other side give a completely forgetful version of history, in my view. In 2016 when I entered the Senate, I spoke about what happened in the NT in July 2007 when the Northern Territory parliament, the Northern Territory people, were intervened on in such an incredibly dramatic way without any input, without any view. It was certainly, when I was the member for Arnhem in 2007 standing in the parliament of the Northern Territory, the most disempowering moment not just for me as the member for Arnhem but for all of those constituents I was there to represent. I could say nothing. I could do nothing. The humiliation of people, the shame that people felt all carried through with the Northern Territory Intervention, which saw the arrival of the BasicsCard. Now I pick up on the reflection of history on the other side, a forgotten reflection of history, in my view, where Senator Ruston says that we on this side don't care about the people of the Northern Territory on the BasicsCard. Well, I ask you: in your time as the previous minister in this role, how many inquiries did you hold into the BasicsCard to actually ask the families of the Northern Territory how they were going?

This has been a very long road for the people of the Northern Territory and, indeed, for all of those now who are on the CDC right across Australia. I have objected to this from the day I entered this Senate and I am incredibly proud that our government has brought this as an urgent piece of legislation for this Senate to push through. There are thousands of Australians out there who do not want to be on this card, and it is up to this Senate to make, I believe, the right decision to ensure that this legislation gets through. None of the previous inquiries or reports over four years could say that the CDC was working in such an effective way that it was reducing trauma, that it was reducing domestic violence or that it was increasing people's ability to live a life free of all of that. None of those reports could say that. Let me remind you, senators, that one of the reasons the CDC was introduced was because it was meant to do those things. It was meant to see a better quality of life for Australians. That was the initial intention, but somewhere along the way that got lost, that got forgotten. It took those reports that came to our Senate inquiries—and these were not Senate reports; these were academic reports that were done on each of these communities under the CDC. So when senators opposite get up and say there's been no consultation, let me tell you: this has gone on for a very long time, and that is the very reason why the First Nations caucus committee of the federal Labor Party pushed for this policy to be integral in taking it to the recent federal election.

There is no doubt, Senators, that we from this side of the house are very clear in our objectives here. There has been no mistake. In this term of parliament, in this very short term, through a Senate inquiry that many senators here took part in to look into this bill, we most certainly did listen. And I commend Minister Rishworth and Assistant Minister Elliot for the travels they embarked upon, not long after being appointed in their ministerial positions, to go to each of these CDC sites across the country. They did so straightaway. Why? Because we knew it was important. We knew it was imperative. We knew that there were Australians out there who were suffering, who needed some security about what their future was with this card. That's why Minister Rishworth and Minister Elliot took off across the country, listening, talking and bringing forward this piece of legislation.

And, yes, Senator Ruston, there are amendments to deal with but, hey, that's what Senate inquiries do. Senate inquiries into pieces of legislation do that. Hello? It's what we do with many pieces of legislation because we believe and trust in the democratic process of that inquiry. And that's why these amendments have come into this particular legislation at this particular time—because we waited for the Senate inquiry to see what people were saying. Now, you may jest that we've made an amendment in relation to Cape York. But guess what? We listened to people like Noel Pearson, to organisations like the Family Responsibilities Commission. We listened to them because we knew that it was critical, and that it was different in terms of the way the Family Responsibilities Commission handles the program up in Cape York.

We saw that previously, in opposition, through the many Senate inquiries. In fact, I do recall sitting in Darwin at a Senate inquiry and listening to the Family Responsibilities Commission and others—elders from that community—giving evidence. And I do recall thinking: 'You know what? This is a ground up way of looking at these problems. The elders are involved. They are participating. They're the ones working with their family members, kinship groups, and saying, "Okay, this is the decision we'll make in a consultative way."' And I had thought then that if that particular program had come in in 2014, as opposed to the style of CDC that came in, we might have been in a pretty different sort of place. So I do commend the people of Cape York with what they are trying to do, and we are unashamedly bringing in this amendment because of that.

You ask about the people of the Northern Territory with the BasicsCard. Well, I come back to the start of my speech. I recall the intervention into the Northern Territory in 2007 and what it meant for my constituents, the heavy-handed approach that was used. And, yes, the BasicsCard continued, even under a Labor government—again, to the disquiet and discontent of so many of my constituents—but I never forgot. But I never forgot. I never forgot. I have brought that here into the Senate because I want the Senate to never forget that deep feeling of disempowerment, disrespect and shame.

We may not be dealing with the BasicsCard right now—you can call it whatever you want on the other side—but we are about process on this side. We realise something: you members opposite championed the CDC, yet you had no plans beyond 31 December. For all of those 17,000 people or more on that program, you had no plans beyond 31 December. You just threw it all down, packed your bags, walked off and said: 'It's their problem now. They're the new government; they can handle it.' Guess what? We are handling it, and we are pointing out your inability to have made steps for those thousands of Australians who required greater dignity and greater knowledge of what this parliament was going to do about their future in assisting them in some of the most basic things—financial support, quality of life, being able to pay their bills, being able to pay their rent. The stories of people homeless, not knowing what their future was and still not knowing—that's why we've got to get this bill through. Yes, we will come back to the BasicsCard. I can tell you now, senators, that is one area I will not let this Senate let go of. We need to discuss that with the families of the Northern Territory.

One of the questions I kept asking of the former minister, Senator Ruston, was: How much money was spent doing all those ads across the Northern Territory to get people off the BasicsCard and onto the CDC? How much money did you spend? I could never get an answer to that question, but let me tell you—I'm certainly checking the books now on this side. You spent so much money to try and get at least 4,000 people onto the cashless debit card, but you still didn't worry about the 22,000 people on the BasicsCard. You still had no inquiries, you had no investigations, you had no consultations, and you come in here having a go at us about the BasicsCard? No, no, no, senators. No, no, no, you won't. I will keep reminding you of what you didn't do.

Yes, we have a lot of work on this side, now that we have that responsibility. I am proud to bring this legislation before the Senate, and I have no objections whatsoever to what we are asking of senators here. But I do make this plea to those senators on the crossbenches, and I do remind those senators who came to the Northern Territory in particular—Senator Lambie, from your visit to Central Australia and to far north-east Arnhem Land: remember the Yolngu. Remember the families that spoke to you. They still hold those same messages today about what they want for their future. You know what they said to you. I took the former senator for South Australia Rex Patrick to the Northern Territory, and even he saw the importance of this debate to First Nations people—that, for once, they could be heard instead of being trampled over as we were in 2007, when there was no debate and no discussion.

I reassure the Senate that I will make sure that there is comprehensive, dignified discussion with families about the BasicsCard. I thank the Arnhem Land Progress Association and the work that it has done and continues to do with residents and employees across its many locations. You are the ones that started with your ALPA card, and that was prior to the intervention in 2007. The ALPA card came out months before that did. Imagine if you had been consulted about this kind of income management or money counselling. Imagine if you had been counselled and consulted. Imagine where we could see that ALPA card today, had there been that discussion.

I have a long memory, senators. I will always put on the table where we could've done better on this side, and I will always point out in the Senate where you should've done better on your side.