A question mark remains over the fate of the government’s proposed cashless welfare card, after Labor and key crossbenchers called for more time before deciding on the legislation.
A bill enabling trial sites for the so-called Healthy Welfare card is due to be debated in the Senate on Monday. Ceduna in South Australia is the first town to sign up for the trial.
Under the trial, 80% of a recipient’s welfare payment will go on to an electronic debit card that will not be able to be used to gamble or buy alcohol. The remaining 20% can be spent on anything, including gambling and alcohol.
About 1,000 people would fall under the Ceduna trial, and the government is close to finalising arrangements for a trial in the east Kimberley region of Western Australia. The legislation, which has passed the House of Representatives in September, would allow for the Ceduna trial as well as other trial sites around the country.
Labor and a number of key crossbenchers have called for more time to refine the legislation, saying that the consultation period with community members in Ceduna has been insufficient.
The independent senator Nick Xenophon told reporters on Monday that the government needs to go back to Ceduna to “thrash out areas of concerns with the community” about the trial’s implementation.
“They can not ignore the will of the community,” Xenophon said.
Xenophon visited Ceduna with fellow independent senator Jacqui Lambie earlier this month.
“While listening to community concerns, it became apparent that a significant section of the community, mainly non-Indigenous stakeholders, had not been properly consulted with – and their interests were not been properly represented,” Lambie will tell the Senate when the bill is up for debate. “Based on that meeting I had in Ceduna, I was prepared to vote against this legislation should the government not delay presentation of the bill before the Senate.”
Labor has given in-principle support for the card, but has written to the assistant social services minister, Alan Tudge, expressing concerns over roll out of the Ceduna trial.
“To rush proper consideration of the legislation and its implications is irresponsible and could potentially undermine the long term outcomes sought,” the shadow families minister, Jenny Macklin, said. “Proper consideration and a robust approach to the trial will ultimately support a better long term outcome for people living in Ceduna and the surrounding communities.”
Tudge on Monday rejected the suggestion that the consultation period was truncated in order to rush the bill through.
“I’ve been to Ceduna several times. I’ve been to every single one of the communities that will be impacted. Each of the communities, at their board levels, has passed a resolution in favour of the trial occurring,” he told Sky News. “We have significant community leadership support for the trial to occur.”
Tudge last week announced an extra $1m in funding for South Australia as a result of the trial. The extra cash would go towards increased police patrols, more drug and alcohol rehabilitation services and greater domestic violence support.
Without Labor and the Greens supporting the legislation, the government needs the backing of six of the eight crossbenchers to pass the bill.
So far, only two have thrown their support behind the bill – Palmer United party senator Dio Wang, and Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm.
The Healthy Welfare card was first proposed by mining magnate Andrew Forrest as part of a review into Indigenous employment. Forrest wanted the card to be entirely cashless, but the government scaled that back to 80%.
“It is incomprehensible that a paternalistic thought bubble by a billionaire could materialise with the support of the Labor party, rolling out as early as next year,” the Greens’ spokeswoman on welfare, Rachel Siewert, said in August.
