Extract from ABC News
Trials of a controversial cashless welfare program will be extended for another two years, after the Federal Government failed to win support to make the scheme permanent in some communities.
Key points:
- The bill was opposed by Labor, the Greens and independent senators Jacqui Lambie and Rex Patrick
- Opponents of the program say it disproportionately impacts Indigenous Australians
- Social Services Minister Anne Ruston says the program has reduced alcohol consumption and gambling
The Senate agreed to continue trials of the Cashless Debit Card (CDC), which has been labelled "racist" by some critics, after the Coalition put forward last-minute amendments to placate Centre Alliance senator Stirling Griff.
Under the CDC program, 80 per cent of an individual's welfare payments are quarantined on a card that cannot be used to purchase alcohol or gambling products.
The Government's original plan was to make the card permanent in Ceduna in South Australia, the East Kimberley and Goldfields regions of WA, and the Bundaberg and Hervey Bay region of Queensland.
Instead, trials at these four sites will be extended for another two years.
The Government had also been seeking to transfer about 20,000 people from the Basics Card to the CDC in the Northern Territory. The program will instead be optional for welfare recipients in the NT.
The bill was opposed by Labor, the Greens and independent senators Jacqui Lambie and Rex Patrick, but passed with the support One Nation, while Senator Griff abstained.
As the Senate debated the bill late on Wednesday, it appeared doomed to fail, prompting Social Services Minister Anne Ruston to circulate the amendments.
"We are a government that listens, and from the feedback I have received I believe that communities in the Northern Territory will be much more comfortable with this being a voluntary choice between remaining on the Basics Card or transitioning to the Cashless Debit Card," she said.
Senator Ruston said the Coalition remained committed to making the program permanent.
"This amendment does not change our commitment; it simply means we have more work to do to in the future to convince the Parliament they should support this program on a permanent basis too."
In opposing the bill, Senator Patrick argued the Government had provided anecdotes rather than evidence in its bid to prove the scheme had achieved positive results.
"In the end, when weighing up all of the evidence, the difficulty for me is the Government has not made out its case," he said.
Senator Patrick travelled to the trial site in Ceduna, and the Northern Territory, while deliberating whether to support the legislation.
He said what he heard on the ground had "undercut" the Government's claims the program had reduced alcoholism and gambling.
"Governments should create opportunities and provide services to support people.
"It's not their role to hold people back and create further disadvantage, which is what the welfare card does."
The Senate agreed to amendments by Senator Patrick to exclude veterans and pensioners unless they volunteered or were referred by social workers.
Labor argued the program was punitive and racially discriminatory because it disproportionately impacted Indigenous Australians.
Senator Penny Wong accused the Government of repeating mistakes of the past.
"This legislation comes in the context of generations of paternalism toward First Nations people in this country," Senator Wong said.
"When the Morrison Government chooses not to listen to First Nations people about something that deeply affects them, they are throwing back to an attitude that we all hoped this Government and this country moved passed with the National Apology in 2008.
"I especially have criticism of those who purport to be moderates in the Liberal Party, because they would never propose legislation like this for non-Indigenous Australians, but they are fine with it for Indigenous Australians."
| Regions | Proportion of CDC users who are Indigenous |
|---|---|
| Ceduna | 76 per cent |
| Bundaberg and Harvey Bay | 18 per cent |
| Goldfields | 48 per cent |
| East Kimberley | 82 per cent |
Indigenous Australians make up 81 per cent of the 25,000 people on the Basics Card in the Northern Territory.
Senator Ruston rejected accusations the scheme was targeted at Indigenous communities saying: "It was not designed on the basis of race."
She said it applied "equally to all eligible welfare recipients" in locations where "high levels of welfare dependency and social harm" had been identified.
Senator Ruston conceded the "card is not a silver bullet" but said it had reduced drug and alcohol presentations in emergency wards, reduced police call-outs and had created a "general feeling of improved safety on the streets".
"It's clear that it has provided a circuit breaker that, in tandem with wraparound services and a lot of hard work within communities, it is making a difference," she said.
"Across the four sites, card participants are spending more of their welfare payments on essential items for themselves and their families."
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