David Shoebridge (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

This isn't a 'minor technical amendment'; it's a fundamental expansion of ministerial power over welfare payments. Again, I say to those on the government benches who are now interjecting, trying to suggest that there's some decency or fairness in this: maybe listen to what the stakeholders—

Government senators interjecting—

Before those members on the Labor benches interject angrily to try and support this, maybe listen to what some of the stakeholders have said about this before you jump in to defend yet another attack on the most vulnerable from Labor. This isn't a minor technical amendment; it's a fundamental expansion of ministerial power over welfare payments. I say again: Labor snuck it into the bill after it had gone through committee scrutiny. That is a shameful tactic from Labor. A warrant is not a conviction. It's not even a charge, yet this bill strips people of critical supports before they've had their day in court, if they even have one, since we know, of course, many charges fall away well before that stage.

On 29 October, 18 different organisations issued a joint statement calling on the government to abandon this amendment. I repeat: 18 organisations issued a joint statement. We have Labor senators in this chamber barracking for these amendments and barracking for this attack on some of the most vulnerable people in the community. Before they jump up and do that, maybe listen to what Anglicare Australia, the Australian Council of Social Service, the Australian Unemployed Workers' Union, the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services, the Council of Single Mothers and their Children and many others have said. They've raised serious critical concerns, including the impact on victims of family violence. Abusers could use this as an additional tool to harm their victims by reporting them to police to trigger a warrant. Then, suddenly, the victim loses their income, their home and their ability to care for their children on a decision made not by a court but by an AFP officer without any understanding of the family dynamics or by an ASIO officer who has no understanding of the family dynamics—not tested in court, and, often, the person charged probably wouldn't even be able to afford a lawyer.

The Council of Single Mothers and their Children warn that this could see 'too many single mothers and their children, many of them Aboriginal, misrepresented as perpetrators of violence and then effectively stripped of their payments'.