Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill may proceed without formalities and be now read a first time.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a first time.

by leave—I move:

That the provisions of paragraphs (5) to (8) of standing order 111 not apply to the bill, allowing it to be considered during this period of sittings.

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

I note here that normally the Greens do not support exempting most bills from the cut-off order, for reasons that I've articulated in this place before—to enable enough time to look at bills. Given the circumstances of this bill, which I will go into in more detail in the debate on the second reading, the Greens will not be objecting to exemption from the cut-off order. But I don't want that to be taken as a precedence for us changing our view on the rules around bills being exempted from the cut-off order.

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I table a statement of reasons justifying the need for this bill to be considered during these sittings and seek leave to have the statement incorporated into Hansard.

Leave granted.

The statement read as follows—

STATEMENT OF REASONS FOR INTRODUCTION AND PASSAGE IN THE 2019 WINTER/SPRING SITTINGS

SOCIAL SECURITY (ADMINISTRATION) AMENDMENT (CASHLESS WELFARE) BILL

Purpose of the Bill

The bill will amend the provisions in the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 related to exiting cashless welfare arrangements, to provide for the Secretary to be the decision maker for all exit applications. It will also co-locate all the wellbeing exemptions and exit provisions from cashless welfare arrangements in the same Subdivision thereby simplifying the cashless welfare legislation.

The bill will also broaden the criteria to allow the Secretary to take into account a person's ability to manage their affairs generally, including their financial affairs.

Reasons for Urgency

The process to exit the Cashless Debit Card commenced on 1 July 2019. Amendments are required as soon as possible to allow applications to be processed and ensure consistency in the processing of exit applications. As community bodies are either not able or willing to make decisions on applications, it is not possible for some applications to exit the program to be considered in the Ceduna and East Kimberley sites. The amendments proposed in the Bill are urgent to ensure an equitable and consistent process for all Cashless Debit Card participants that apply to exit.

Question agreed to.