Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to speak about the cashless welfare card—yes, again—and I will continue to talk about it again and again while the government continues with this flawed policy. This is bad policy. It is not effective and it will not be effective. The government is trying to roll out a policy which, through evidence, has been established as a flawed policy, and that is income management.

Ministers and departmental staff have been in and out of Geraldton, in my home state, lately trying to convince Geraldton to take up this flawed card. They have been talking to people who they determine are leaders of the community—not elected leaders of the community. In fact, they are talking to people who, when I talk to them, are very surprised that the government is saying, 'We've been talking to the leaders of the community.' People just thought the government was talking to them because they wanted to know what they thought about it—not because they were trying to use them as leaders of the community. But they have not been speaking to the people who will live and breathe this every day—those who are trying to exist on income support, those on Newstart who are living below the poverty line, single parents living below the poverty line on Newstart, people on disability support pension, people on a carers pension—because, yes, this will apply to them as well. This will apply to people on parenting support—except if you listen to the local member, who is the one advocating for this to go into Geraldton. She says she wants what would be a special deal for Geraldton—that it only apply to those on Newstart. Does she want a different trial for Geraldton than what applies for the other two trial sites, which are predominantly Aboriginal trial sites? Apparently, she does. Apparently, she wants this to only apply to people on Newstart.

Geraldton is suffering a bit from the downturn in the mining industry. People who were recently employed in the mining industry are potentially now on Newstart. This card would apply to them. They are trying to survive on Newstart. So, no, they have not been talking to these particular community members, those that will be affected. I said I would promise the community that I would hold a public meeting if the government did not—and the government did not, so I did. I promised them I would retell in this place their accounts of what they think about the cashless welfare card so that the government could not say they have not heard from the community—because the government says if the community does not want this card, or if a committee does not want this card, they will not go ahead with it. Well, Geraldton says no—and the meeting very clearly told me to tell the Senate, 'We say no to this cashless welfare card.'

One of the many issues I heard from community members in the public meeting that I held is that many of the local sports groups and community organisations do not have EFTPOS facilities. Parents want their kids to be involved in sport, they realise that sport is a healthy activity, but they need to pay cash for their kids to participate in this sporting activity. How are they going to pay with a cashless welfare card? These groups and organisations do not have EFTPOS. Some parents said they may have to take their kids out of activities because they will not be able to find the cash to pay for it because they will not have access to cash.

At the meeting, I heard from a young man who is studying. He buys his text books second-hand for his university course. Because he buys them second-hand he has to pay in cash—a couple of hundred dollars whenever he has to buy textbooks. But he will not be able to pay for those on a cashless welfare card. So he will have to go and buy new books—because the card is the only way he will be able to pay for them—costing him hundreds of dollars more. He was extremely distressed about that. The coalition is saying it wants to make it harder for this young man to be able to study.

We heard from people who are paying their rent in cash at the moment. Again, that will be much harder under the card. It makes it much harder for the tenant and the landlord. Landlords or homeowners who have a mortgage offset account may also have problems—and this was the first issue raised at the public meeting.

Many op shops do not have EFTPOS facilities. At some other trial sites, we heard that people were having trouble paying Telstra bills and other bills and using the card at a post office. We heard that the cards cannot be used on certain websites to pay for things either.

We also heard at the meeting that the card was demoralising for people. We heard this over and over. People thought it would stigmatise them, undermine their self-esteem, take away their privacy and take away their choice if they are receiving income support. People spoke about the challenges to mental health. Many people receiving income support might be struggling with illness, disability or other family challenges and they felt this would make things worse.

Many were looking for work and felt that dealing with this extra issue might also be an issue. On top of the challenges of finding work, they spoke of being forced to use a system that is demeaning and impractical. They felt it would add stress to their already quite stressful lives and make it harder to manage their money. It is understandable that forcing people onto the card might have a negative impact on their self-esteem and even their mental health. The community felt they were being blackmailed into accepting this card; they understood that, if they were to get additional services, they would have to take it. They should not have to accept this sort of card in order to get the additional services they need and should be receiving as a member of the community.

Community members also thought that the card would not help people with substance abuse problems. Let's remember, the government is saying that this is the purpose of the card. It is intended to be a measure that helps people address substance abuse issues and gambling addictions. But, at the meeting, people were quite clear that those suffering a serious substance abuse issue would still find a way to access drugs and alcohol and that this card would impact on other community members and make it harder for them while not addressing those very substantial issues. They acknowledged that these issues needed to be addressed but that this card was the wrong way to go about it.

Community members told me they were concerned about the card's impact. They felt that those on the lowest incomes, those who were poorest in the community, would be adversely affected. They were worried about the risks of homelessness, and some communities were concerned about what people would do who could not access cash. Most of all, community members told me to tell the Senate that they reject the cashless welfare card. They do not want this card. They want their voices heard. They do not want to have the card inflicted upon them. They very clearly told me to say: 'Geraldton says no.' So I say to the government that the community clearly does not want this card.

The government has not spoken to them. Community members are firmly against the card, and the local ALP candidate for Durack is not following the ALP line of supporting this card. Does the WA government want a second trial of this card in their community? It is already going ahead in East Kimberley—unless the Senate miraculously supports the motion I lodged today to disallow the East Kimberley trial. Does the WA government support this card going ahead in Geraldton, when the community is very clearly saying 'no' to this card?

How can the government possibly support a different trial for a community that is not predominantly Aboriginal? The trial is going ahead in Ceduna, East Kimberley, a predominantly Aboriginal community. What the government may be contemplating is a different trial in a community that is not a predominantly Aboriginal community. Different rules apply. How can that trial effectively measure the impact of this card? It is a flawed measure to move it out to Geraldton and the community says no.