{"id":21496,"date":"2023-06-22T22:05:36","date_gmt":"2023-06-22T22:05:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=21496"},"modified":"2023-06-22T22:05:36","modified_gmt":"2023-06-22T22:05:36","slug":"conservatives-team-up-to-reintroduce-cashless-debit-card-2-0","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2023\/06\/22\/conservatives-team-up-to-reintroduce-cashless-debit-card-2-0\/","title":{"rendered":"CONSERVATIVES TEAM UP TO REINTRODUCE CASHLESS DEBIT CARD 2.0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Greens have condemned the Labor party for betraying people on income support, most of whom are First Nations people, by reversing their election pledge to abolish the Cashless Debit Card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Labor and the Liberals teamed up to pass Labor\u2019s new Income Management Reform Bill, which takes the legislative framework for the BasicsCard and applies it to the new \u2018SmartCard\u2019. The SmartCard is managed by the same company, Indue, who ran the Cashless Debit Card scheme, and is effectively the Cashless Debit Card by another name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Greens successfully negotiated for Labor support for amendments requiring Ministerial reports on the cost of the Indue SmartCard, reviews of the impact of the scheme by the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights, as well as oversight by the Community Affairs References Committee for any proposed expansion of compulsory income management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the Greens welcome the Parliament\u2019s support in making a bad bill better, these measures were not enough to secure Greens support for this discriminatory bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senator Janet Rice, Greens spokesperson for Social Services, said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLabor promised voters they would abolish the Cashless Debit Card. Now they\u2019re rolling it out again, just with new branding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBetween the Cashless Debit Card 2.0, the measly $2.85 a day increase to Jobseeker, and refusing to help renters during the worst housing crisis in generations, Labor has no business calling itself the party of the working class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe bills Labor are bringing to the Parliament ensure the housing crisis will get worse, abandon millions of renters to unlimited rent increases and poverty, and leave those already in poverty in dire situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLabor have now gone further than the Liberals did in expanding the racist and entirely ineffective compulsory income management system. We don\u2019t need another Conservative Party in this country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the same week as securing the Voice referendum, Labor teamed up with the Coalition and PHON to pass a racist bill that overwhelmingly targets First Nations people, against the wishes of key First Nations organisations, including the Central Land Council and the Aboriginal Peak Organisations Northern Territory, that gave evidence to the bill\u2019s inquiry. The hypocrisy is astounding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDespite Labor\u2019s false claims, the bill is not a simple matter of improving technology. This is a sneaky and insidious bill that significantly expands the Minister\u2019s power to roll out compulsory income management in new areas, and effectively allows the new Cashless Debit Card to apply nationally, despite Labor\u2019s campaign against CDC in opposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe only differences between Labor\u2019s SmartCard and the Cashless Debit Card are its name and colour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLabor have betrayed their pledge to voters at the last election. Under the Labor Government, more than twenty thousand people are still trapped under compulsory income management. We need a voluntary system that genuinely supports people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLabor voted down the Greens amendment for a sunset clause that would have ensured an eventual end date to compulsory income management, which even the former Cashless Debit Card legislation had in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile the Greens successfully negotiated with Labor to pass three amendments that ensure more transparency, accountability and Parliamentary oversight, it was not enough to ensure our support for what is ultimately a discriminatory, draconian bill that traps people in poverty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Greens, advocates, academics, and people on income management will continue to pressure Labor until they keep their promises and scrap compulsory income management for good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greens amendments<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amendment sheet 1966 is here<\/u><\/a>, linked on this page https:\/\/www.aph.gov.au\/Parliamentary_Business\/Bills_LEGislation\/Bills_Search_Results\/Result?bId=r6989<\/u><\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n