Andrew Bartlett (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'll be brief in my comments on this report, document No. 3. I have already spoken to this, so I won't go on at length again. This is the Auditor-General's report into the implementation performance of the cashless debt card trial. It has already been well noted by many people, including me, that this is a very scathing report, which calls into question the genuineness of these trials and whether it's all about the politics of it.

The single thing I want to emphasise tonight is that I don't know when this legislation will come on and I may well not be in this place by the time it does. So I really want to take the opportunity to make a plea, because the Greens' and Labor's position on this legislation regarding the attempt to extend what is clearly a failed and inadequate trial further into Queensland, into the electorate of Hinkler and the communities around Hervey Bay and Bundaberg, is that the Greens strongly oppose it. I very strongly oppose it, having gone to both of those communities and met with and spoken to many people there. I know the mayor of Hervey Bay is opposed to it and I know the mayor of Bundaberg, a former LNP member of the Queensland parliament, is opposed to it being expanded into that community. If there is money available to spend—because this trial will cost money, not save money—it won't generate a single job in those communities. It won't get a single person who is currently on social security into employment. It will just put more red tape around their lives. If there's money available, spend it directly in those communities and generate some employment, economic activity and services for some of those people that do need support, that the government says it's seeking to try to deal with by virtue of this trial.

Likewise, the view of the coalition and the One Nation party, which votes with them pretty much all the time, is that they're going to press ahead with this, despite that opposition I've mentioned. So it does come down to others on the crossbench here who have not yet committed to a view. I really would take the opportunity to urge those senators, the Centre Alliance senators, Senator Storer, Senator Hinch, possibly Senator Leyonhjelm, whose views about reducing government regulation are hopefully contrary to expanding this unnecessary control over people's lives. On behalf of the people of those communities, who I have visited and spoken to—unlike the government-controlled Senate committee into this proposal, who have never bothered to travel to the community that will be affected—I would really urge those crossbench senators to vote against that legislation. This Auditor-General's report here gives plenty of reasons why. Look at plenty of submissions that were provided by people from the community, including the mayor of Hervey Bay. I'd really encourage them to do that. Hopefully, if they do, they'll recognise that this is not something that should be expanded into communities in Queensland, and they'll vote against that legislation.

Question agreed to.