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

I think what I have to do, Senator Lambie, is perhaps give you my understanding of that journey with the BasicsCard. It came in in 2007 and was imposed on many thousands of people across the Territory. From memory, there was no review of that card until between 2010 and 2014. So the next decision was made in 2012. That was by, obviously, going to the election here. Federal Labor took it over from the coalition. I was not in the federal parliament at the time, but I remember, from a personal point of view, that we were lobbying our colleagues in Canberra to have a good look at the BasicsCard and wanting them to review it.

I think all people in politics go into it in the hope that they can influence change for the better. So when I came in in 2016 and that position was still the same, it was a deep concern for me. Here we had laws governing the people of the Northern Territory, but this parliament hadn't sought to review its own legislation, to review and look into what was going on with the BasicsCard. That's something that is very close to my heart.

Even with this particular legislation, which is on the cashless debit card, I know that there was no work done by the previous government to look into the BasicsCard. That has always troubled me. So I would certainly like to say that, should this legislation pass through tonight, this parliament must look into the BasicsCard in the Northern Territory. Half those families may say: 'Don't touch it. We want to stay on it. We like it. It suits us. It works for us in our communities.' That's what they may say, but they've never really been asked because every focus has been on the cashless debit card.