Julian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party) | Hansard source

The opposition get to pick any topic they like for private members' motions. They can literally bring a debate on anything. They could have chosen cost of living, energy or aged care. They're supposed to try and pick things that put political pressure on the government, but they choose today to bring a debate on the cashless debit card. Well, bring it on. Let's talk about the Liberals' policy to roll out privatised income management nationwide. You've got to wonder: is there a mole in the opposition's tactics committee that they think this is a good debate that's somehow going to win them votes if they bring it on? They were no good as a government and they're no good as an opposition. This is a terrific topic to debate. You've voluntarily brought a debate where we get to talk about your ongoing efforts. It's in the motion. You've now nailed your colours to the mast. You've finally fessed up. They wouldn't talk about it before the election. They kept it a secret. But there it is in the motion: if re-elected, they want to bring back privatised welfare. They want to bring back forced income management. They want a national rollout of the cashless debit card.

Niki Savva revealed in her book that there were three policies under the Morrison government that were approved by them before the election through their Expenditure Review Committee but that they kept secret. One of them was the national rollout of the cashless debit card. They knew what the broader Australian community would think about this, so they didn't want to tell people before the election. They get very sensitive when you call out the fact that it would have included, to quote the former Prime Minister's words, 'all social security recipients'.

An opposition member: That's not true.

That includes all pensioners, including age pensioners. They say that's not true. Well, why would they have introduced legislation into the House to force age pensioners onto the card if that's not exactly what they wanted to do? They are leftover ideologues still banging on about a failed policy.

This motion could be framed and hung on a wall in glass with a plaque under it saying 'Disinformation'. They talk about 'the coalition's plan to reinstate the successful cashless debit card'. Instead they should admit that there was no evidence to back up the claims or to support the dodgy privatised scheme. In June 2022 the Australian National Audit Office released their second audit report, which said:

The CDC program extension and expansion was not informed by an effective second impact evaluation, cost-benefit analysis or post-implementation review.

Those opposite promised for years in the Senate that they would do the review and find some evidence, but they never did, and the Auditor-General rightly called them out for it.

They should also stop selectively quoting from the 2021 University of Adelaide study. In fact, that study found that any reduction in drug and alcohol use could not be attributed to the cashless debit card. They never quote that bit of the study, the actual conclusion, do they? They could try quoting from the University of South Australia and Monash University study which showed that the card had 'no substantive impact' on crisis or emergency department presentations. They don't like quoting the actual results of studies.

The other part of the motion, which is fundamentally disinformation—and we heard it from the previous two opposition speakers—is 'the government's decision to spend over $217 million' on the SmartCard. Well, we make no apology for abolishing the cashless debit card. We're doing exactly what was promised. Some people, of course, have volunteered to be on the SmartCard, with upgraded technology, and it's made a positive difference to people's lives. They can shop at the market again, getting cheaper fresh food with cash. They can buy second-hand goods. They can go-to restaurants again. They can give cash to their grandkids. But what is this $217 million they talk about? Well, $158 million of it, 70 per cent—

Opposition members interjecting—

They don't want to listen; they just want to yell. Seventy per cent of this so-called expenditure is to support services for people in the former cashless debit card communities. It's not, as they try to say, for some great big procurement and great big card; it's money going into communities—the communities of Cape York, the Goldfields, the East Kimberley and Ceduna.

So, really, those opposite have a choice. They need to put up or shut up. Either they support the investment in those communities or they go out to those communities and tell them that they don't support the investment, and they stop running this disinformation campaign. They should apologise to the thousands of Australians who were forced onto this card in the first place. They should promise to stop supporting privatised welfare and to never again force pensioners onto income management. They should admit that they're running a tawdry little debate, conflating issues of race and stigma about drug and alcohol and the old bogeyman of people on welfare, with the issue of privatised welfare, which is their real objective. All of us want to see reductions in harm in all communities, but this is not the way to go about it.

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