Labor betrays welfare recipients with push for new cashless welfare powers

First Labor failed to deliver on its commitment to abolish all compulsory income control. Now they're opening the door to more of it.

The Antipoverty Centre is disturbed by Labor’s sudden introduction of a bill to containing new powers to expand racist cashless welfare programs nationally.

In the midst of a cost-of-living crises fuelled by grotesque corporate profits, Labor has signalled its desire for more income control – not to protect the community from the rent-seeking property inventors and supermarkets, but to expose more welfare recipients to harmful cashless welfare.

Labor went to the election promising to “abolish” compulsory cashless welfare.

In practice, they’ve continued to force more than 20,000 people in the Northern Territory to remain on the BasicsCard despite community opposition, and done little more than rebrand the Cashless Debit Card, with Indue’s implementation contract remaining in place even though people can now call Centrelink for help. The fundamentals of the CDC cooked up by Tony Abbott and Andrew Forrest remain, as does Forrest’s desire to expand income control nationally.

Amanda Rishworth is seeking what the Liberals failed to do: Granting herself the power to expand cashless welfare across the continent. Under proposed amendments the social services minister would have discretion to designate any state, territory or area as a “voluntary income management site”.

The Coalition will be happy to sign off on this disgusting bill so that they can easily fulfil their disgusting dream of further controlling the lives and choices of people in deep poverty when they next return to government.

We call on Labor to abandon this bill and guarantee welfare recipients that they will do what’s needed to make sure no one is subjected to cashless welfare against their will – by force or by coercion.

Quotes attributable to Antipoverty Centre spokesperson and DSP recipient Kristin O’Connell:

Labor wanted to roll out cashless welfare nationally when they were last in government and now that they’ve got another chance they’re seizing it.

Without warning, the government has today introduced a bill to dramatically expand the minister’s discretion.

They want the minister to be able to roll it out wherever the hell she likes, and whenever she likes. They are inviting the next Coalition government to force income control on every welfare recipient in the country when they inevitably return to power.

The deception is sickening.

Labor lied to the community about its plans for cashless welfare, and the Coalition will support them every step of the way. The ability to expand cashless welfare across the country at the stroke of a pen is as good as a done deal.

During a cost of living crisis, the Labor government refuses to ensure people can afford to live, but instead is wasting time pursuing a policy that evidence has shown time and again causes harm.

We condemn this decision and urge the government to change course. Please, recommit to ensuring no one can be forced to be on cashless welfare.

Media contact: 0413 261 362 / media at antipovertycentre.org

---

Background

For more background and statistics related to the BasicsCard, including examples of comments by Labor opposing it before they took government, please see our submission to the recent Cashless Debit Card bill inquiry.

Sections of the explanatory memorandum relevant to the minister’s expanded powers:

• voluntary enhanced income management area has the meaning given by subsection 123SF(5). This definition points the reader to new subsection 123SF(5) (inserted by item 38), which enables the Minister, by legislative instrument, to determine that the following can be considered a ‘voluntary enhanced income management area’: (a) a specified State; or (b) a specified Territory; or (c) a specified area.

• Item 38 inserts new subsection 123SF(5) to allow the Minister to determine, by legislative instrument, that a specified State, Territory or area is a voluntary enhanced IM area for the purpose of Part 3AA.