Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I've been involved with the cashless debit card long before anyone else here in this place. I was part of the initial town hall meeting that we held up in Kununurra, where the idea first emerged. Local Indigenous people and other community people up there said that they wanted something that would help them address the challenges and the issues that they're facing in their community. I was part of a consultation, and those who were in the meeting asked: 'Is there something that can be done? Is there any sort of technology solution?' I have to admit that, when I first heard the idea, I thought it was probably a bit too simplistic to think that a card or some sort of technology implementation would have such a big social impact as to meet the aspirations of those who were calling for it at the time. So I admit that I at first thought it that it might be a bit too far. But, after looking into it, working with the banks and the retailers to see if there actually was a technology solution, finding that there actually was, developing it as a policy to implement and bringing it forward to the government, we saw the trials of the cashless debit card occur in the East Kimberley, in Ceduna, in the Goldfields and in Bundaberg and Hervey Bay, and we saw a dramatic change in these communities.

I have been going to a lot of those communities for a long, long time—more than 15 or so years. I saw what the communities were like before the cashless debit card was implemented and I saw what they were like during the trials, with the changes that were occurring. More kids were going to school, and more were going to school with food in their bellies rather than going to school hungry. I have said in this place before that one anecdote that has probably stuck in my mind more than anything else was in Wyndham. The breakfast program that is run there would have to bring in extra food on a Monday morning compared to Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday mornings because students wouldn't have eaten since the Friday before when they last fed them because the money wasn't in the hands of their parents and carers to be able to provide food over the weekend because it had been spent needlessly on alcohol, some drugs and a lot of gambling as well. After the cashless debit card came in, the requirement to purchase and provide the extra food on a Monday was no longer there. It was like any other day because there was more money in parents' pockets to be able to provide the sustenance required for children. So I saw the difference that it made. Sadly, having gone back to some of these communities since the abolition of the card—a decision made by the Albanese government—I have seen these communities regressing back to where they were before the cashless debit card was implemented.

There are many ideologically driven policies that have come into this place and that this government is running with. We are seeing it in industrial relations. We are seeing it in relation to the economy, the budget and so forth. But one that really, really upsets me is this issue of the abolition of the cashless debit card. It is shameful. It is very disappointing. They have taken a political angle, an ideologically driven angle and, sadly, it is impacting upon the lives of vulnerable people in communities. I stood here in this very place and said that the abolition of the cashless debit card would have a catastrophic impact in communities, and that's exactly what we are seeing. We have heard from community leaders, particularly in the Goldfields, who've talked about the increase in domestic violence and alcohol related hospitalisations. It is devastating to see.

But this bill is something that we actually do support because it is allowing people who are on compulsory income management to be able to transition onto a better product. It is not a new product, despite what they like to say. It is not an enhanced new card. It's just the cashless debit card—let's be clear. It has different branding on it, but it is actually the cashless debit card that's being implemented. So we support that.

I have made these points here today to say that we know what it was like before the cashless debit card was implemented, we know what it was like during the cashless debit card's implementation and we know what the immediate differences have been since its abolition.

One of the amendments that has been proposed and which will be moved as a substantive amendment when we get to committee stage is to ensure that there is proper recording and reporting of key metrics to measure the social, health and wellbeing impacts within these communities. I would encourage the government and those in the Greens party to consider at least just supporting that amendment. It is all well and good to come in here with our ideologies, but we need to base them on some data and some evidence. If you don't have that then how do you know whether or not you are having a real impact? By measuring it, by reporting on it and by being transparent the government will have the ability to measure whether or not the decisions they have made are in fact making a difference or being detrimental to people's lives. So I urge the Senate to consider supporting that amendment when it comes before us, because I think it will make a big difference.