Cathy O'Toole (Herbert, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to make my position very clear regarding the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Welfare Reform) Bill 2017. I am always open to considering genuine efforts to assist and support people who are struggling with drug dependency to access appropriate treatment and supports. I don't believe that income support is best utilised to support a drug habit; however, vulnerable people's lives are extremely complex. What is very clear to me is that this bill is not a genuine attempt to assist people struggling with drug dependencies. It will do nothing to stop the use of illegal drugs, it will do nothing to prevent ongoing drug use and it will not deliver appropriate treatment or supports.

The changes in this bill will have a severe impact on the lives of people with complex needs, pushing them into serious financial hardship and potentially crime. This bill is full of holes and is based on misunderstandings of data that are so large that you could drive a truck through them. I cannot and will not stand in this place and support legislation that will do absolutely nothing to address this serious and complex problem. I cannot believe that in 2017 this government considers drug testing people on Newstart and youth allowance as a serious solution of any kind.

We have all seen the national footage where former Prime Minister Tony Abbott admits to Annabel Crabb that he was passed out drunk whilst on the job and, by his own admission, missed a very important division. Yet the same person who passed out drunk whilst on the job wants to enforce drug testing on people struggling with drug addiction. Talk about double standards and entitlement! Does former Prime Minister Tony Abbott not realise the hypocrisy? Does the Turnbull government not see the hypocrisy in this situation?

There is also the blanket prejudice and ageism that people on youth allowance and Newstart must be the people on drugs. A study by the National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction found that drug use is significantly more prevalent amongst those in the paid workforce than those not in the paid workforce. Furthermore, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the median age of illicit drug users has risen from 32.8 years in 2001 to 36.5 years in 2013 for any illicit drug. Research has also shown that people over 50 years of age are responsible for the largest rise in illicit drug use and were the only group to show a statistically significant increase in use. The most common age for illicit drug use is 36.5 years of age, as I have said, yet the Turnbull government are choosing to test those on youth allowance recipients, which you have to be under 24 years of age to be eligible for. What an ageist approach. This simply does not make any sense.

This bill is clear evidence that the Turnbull government doesn't give a damn about vulnerable jobseekers or young people, nor is it interested in assisting people struggling with drug addiction into treatment and support. If the Turnbull government were in any way genuine or cared one iota about helping people struggling with drug addiction, it would increase funding to prevention and early intervention supports and treatments. In my electorate that would fund the Townsville Salvation Army youth drug and alcohol detox centre. The only political person who has been concerned about this issue in Herbert is me. In both the 2013 and 2016 campaigns it was Labor who committed $5 million to the Salvation Army detox centre to assist our young people.

The government has not been able to provide any evidence that its strategy or measures will actually work, nor has it revealed the actual cost. Medical professionals, along with the drug and alcohol treatment sector, have raised significant concerns about these measures. Not only will they have a negative impact on jobseekers but, importantly, they won't be effective in identifying those with a serious problem or provide them with appropriate treatment options. This is yet another attempt by the Turnbull government to demonise jobseekers without any evidence that their measures will work, and it is likely to be at a very significant cost to the budget. Experts warn that these changes will not help people overcome addiction, because this is not how addiction works. Instead, people will be pushed into crisis, poverty, homelessness and potentially crime.

From 1 January 2018 the government wants to trial drug testing for 5,000 recipients of Newstart and youth allowance in three locations. Testing will be undertaken by a contracted private provider. The government has not announced what this will cost, nor has it provided any detail regarding the types of tests that will be conducted. Where is the evidence? Where is the detail? Surely, the government should be looking at evidence based practice, especially when large sums of funding are involved, along with people's lives. Overseas examples of drug testing for income support recipients has clearly demonstrated that there is no evidence to support that these measures are effective.

In 2013, the New Zealand government instituted a drug-testing program for welfare recipients. In 2015, only 22 of 8,001 participants tested returned a positive result for illicit drug use. The detection rate was much lower than the proportion of the general New Zealand population estimated to be using illicit drugs. Similar results were found in the United States. In Missouri's 2014 testing program, of the state's 38,970 welfare applicants, 446 were tested, with 48 testing positive. In Utah, 838 of the state's 9,552 welfare applicants were screened, with 29 returning a positive result. These were extremely costly initiatives—costly initiatives that could drive people into poverty, homelessness and crime. Yet the Turnbull government is determined to implement this regime, with no detail on real costs and no evidence based practice.

Concerns have been raised about these measures by health and welfare groups, including St Vincent's Health, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, ACOSS and UnitingCare. No health or community organisations have come out publicly in support of these trials. Addiction medicine specialists are concerned about the technical aspects of the trial. The Turnbull government have no idea what sorts of tests will be used. For example, will they be urine, hair or saliva? With lower-cost tests there is a risk of false positives. For example, if a person is taking antidepressants, they could test positive for amphetamines. Reliable tests can be extremely costly and unlikely to be affordable in this trial. For example, according to the RACP, a gold-standard urine test costs between $550 and $950 to administer. While people taking prescription medicine could be exempted, this would not guarantee that they are not also taking illicit drugs and thus undermining the purpose of the trial.

The testing could potentially encourage people to use less-traceable but more harmful drugs, such as synthetic cannabis. Or it could encourage them to use alcohol, which is not being tested for as part of this trial. A long-term cannabis user who is attempting to address their drug use will still test positive for up to six weeks. How will Centrelink know if they have actually stopped using drugs?

The Turnbull government claims that the availability of treatment will be the criteria for selecting trial sites. But Senate estimates revealed that the Commonwealth does not have access to data on availability and will need to rely on the states to provide this information. Well, how is this going to work? For example, if you were a young person tested in Townsville who returned a positive test, where would you go? We have no youth detox centre and our youth have to travel to Brisbane or Melbourne because North Queensland just doesn't have the facilities. The Turnbull government won't match Labor's commitment to fund the Townsville Salvation Army detox and rehab centre. They won't be able to provide or offer any treatment for people in North Queensland if they choose to run a trial in Townsville. There are very lengthy waiting lists for treatment around the country. These trials will put increased pressure on the health system, and where treatment is unavailable, jobseekers that are identified as having a problem with drugs will have difficulty accessing any necessary treatment or supports. The flaws, gaps and traps in this bill are enormous.

But one thing is evident: the Turnbull government doesn't have a plan to address any real drug issues. But they do have a plan to attack vulnerable jobseekers and to make the poor poorer, whilst appearing to do something—something that delivers nothing but further distress and disadvantage. This government doesn't want to help the sick, as is obvious in their cuts to Medicare. This is a government that doesn't want equal access to quality education, as is obvious by their savage cuts to education. This is a government that doesn't want the poor to become middle-class, as seen through their policy to increase university fees.

This bill will also cut the bereavement payment to those who have lost a loved one, which is just another example of punishing our most vulnerable citizens. The bereavement allowance is a short-term payment for people whose partner has died. It is paid for a maximum of 14 weeks at the rate of the age pension and is subject to the same income and assets tests. For a pregnant woman who has lost her partner the allowance is paid for 14 weeks or the duration of the pregnancy, whichever is longer. Schedule 4 of this bill will replace the bereavement allowance as it currently exists with short-term access to the jobseeker allowance, which is paid at a lower rate and will have a more stringent means test from March 2020. While the schedule provides transitional arrangements that mean bereaved people receiving the allowance on 20 March will be no worse off, further recipients will receive the rate of the jobseeker payment, which is $535 a fortnight. That is the same as Newstart. This means a bereaved person in need of income support will receive $1,300 less over 14 weeks than they currently would. This is a cruel cut without justification to people receiving short-term income support following the loss of a loved partner.

When you are sick, you should always have access to health care. Where you live shouldn't affect your child's access to a quality, needs based education. The size of your wallet or trust fund should not determine whether you can attend a university. When you lose a loved one—someone close to you—you should be allowed time to grieve without the fear of not being able to pay for the simple costs of living. But the Turnbull government is completely out of touch with vulnerable citizens. It is not a government for the people. Rather, it is a government out to make life harder for our most vulnerable. The Turnbull government is a government for the wealthy, not the battler.

I want those people that the Turnbull government is neglecting to know that you do matter to the Labor Party, and you matter to me. I will fight for you every minute of every day in this place. I will continue to fight against the Turnbull government's savage cuts. I will continue to fight for real action on drug related issues and not for useless, unfair bills like this one. I will continue to fight against the government's top-hats approach and for hard hats. I will continue to fight for jobs for Townsville. I will continue to fight this government's neglect of our veterans and ex-service personnel. I will continue to fight for aged care, child care and Medicare. And I will do so because Labor actually cares.

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