Kerrynne Liddle (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Child Protection and the Prevention of Family Violence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In my home state of South Australia, the social and economic mess in Ceduna continues with the removal of the cashless debit card. Take up of Labor's enhanced income management is now so very low but the dreadful social, human and financial cost of their handiwork is so very high. With this Albanese government, non-disclosure agreements abound, as does the distilling or withholding data on increases of alcohol consumption, gambling, emergency presentations, violence and so much more.

The Aboriginal service industry though is doing very well in Ceduna. There are 21 separate services, funded by the Commonwealth, that operate in the small remote township of some 3,000 residents, even though most residents in that area are actually not on welfare. Despite the regulator announcing an audit, public servants this month revealed plans to hand over an additional $600,000 to Ceduna's primary health provider, Yadu Health, to cover additional costs to build a health clinic that was supposed to be built in June. It gave $14 million to Yadu in November 2022, and its poor administration is rewarded with even more money when the service has delivered absolutely nothing—not even a slab; not even a shovel in the ground. This matters for all Australians because the human, financial and social costs continue to grow and so too does the gap in life expectancy for Indigenous Australians.

The removal of the card was a mistake, but the coalition will reinstate it in the communities that want it. Those who live with that decision are the biggest losers. They're the most vulnerable: elders, children and those with co-morbid issues that live in the communities that wanted the card. Labor can't manage the economy, or your money, and this government must surely go down in history as one of the worst.