David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Farrell, I was hoping to follow up on Senator Lambie's earlier question around claims made by members of your party, before the last election, about the CDC.

In a media release dated 27 October 2021, Labor MP Emma McBride said:

Thousands of Coasties who rely on the age pension are at risk of being forced onto the Cashless Debit Card Scheme by the Morrison Government.

They have a plan to force 80 per cent of people's pensions onto a cashless debit card, so they can control and limit how pensioners spend their money.

Then Labor deputy leader, now Deputy Prime Minister, Richard Marles, made a similar claim in a Facebook post on 21 October that said, 'Prime Minister Scott Morrison wants to keep the card and extend it to all pensioners.' Claims the then government wanted to force all pensioners onto the cashless debit card was also made by other Labor politicians, including Justine Elliot, Brian Mitchell, Kate Thwaites, Tim Watts and Julian Hill. In a media release dated 25 October 2021, Senator Ruston, in reply, said:

Let me make it crystal clear—the Morrison Government will not force age pensioners onto the Cashless Debit Card. We were never going to, and never will.

Three days later, on 28 October, Senator Ruston told a Senate estimates committee that she categorically ruled out expanding the scheme to all pensioners, saying:

… there never has, there isn't and there never will be under this government any intention to require age pensioners to go on to the cashless debit card.

An article by the AAP found the claim by Labor to be false. My question to you is one that highlights the need for truth in political advertising laws, and I really commend your commitment to electoral reform and look forward to working with you to ensure that this sort of thing doesn't happen in future. Labor did a great job of conflating all income management with the CDC, and my hunch is that there are a lot of Australians out there who think that your election commitment to repeal CDC simply means that all compulsory income management is going, which isn't the case. I look forward to seeing your plan to do that. I look forward to seeing your plan to work with communities. My question to Senator Farrell is: given Labor clearly made these comments before the election, why not just own up to it?