Tammy Tyrrell (Tasmania, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Once again the government has denied true, genuine consultation on important legislation. It has denied the opportunity for stakeholders and experts to review or provide feedback. The government has deliberately added schedule 5 to the Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Technical Changes No. 2) Bill 2025 after the parliamentary committee review process. Once again the government is testing and undermining our basic rule of law. First they tried to cut our freedom of information and keep access to information away from the public and our journalists. Now they're trying to ram through legislation to deny people the fundamental right to the presumption of innocence and procedural fairness.

Schedule 5 would give government officials the power to strip social security benefits from a person subject to an arrest warrant, even though that person hasn't even been convicted of any offence at all. As the Law Council of Australia says:

No one, even those charged with serious offences, should be subject to punitive action by the state unless they have first been found guilty of an offence by an independent, impartial and competent tribunal.

Is the government really okay with stripping away Australians' ability to access justice and taking food away from families in need and away from people that haven't even been convicted?

This reform will create even more inequity and unintended consequences within the justice system, including for First Nations people. We also know that misidentification often happens in cases of domestic violence, and schedule 5 would only make this worse and punish victims for reporting—and add the risk of the government ripping away their social security benefits. Experts expect schedule 5 to not only erode our rule of law and presumption of innocence but also increase homelessness and put family and community safety at risk. Whatever happened to the Labor that stood up for the little guy, for fairness and, frankly, for the basic rule of law?

Schedule 5 should be separated from the rest of the bill and referred to a parliamentary committee for proper public scrutiny. I back Senator Pocock and his motion. The crossbench are doing the right thing for the people of Australia and for the people they represent. It's a shame that the majors aren't doing the same.