Crossbench senators must reject the cashless welfare bill
The bill to make cashless welfare trial sites permanent has been exposed as a farce by leaked government report
A leaked report into cashless welfare trials shows that the bill to make the card permanent and the government’s approach to democratic process is a farce. It proves what communities and advocates have been saying since the trials began: cashless welfare doesn’t help people and violates their rights.
The crossbench senators are on the record saying they want to vote for evidence-based policy and the evidence is in: the cashless debit card harms the communities the government claims it’s intended to help.
It is now up to the crossbench to protect these communities from further harm and reject this bill. AUWU members will be making contact with senators urging them to do so.
You can’t in good conscience vote in favour of making the cashless debit card permanent after having been presented the evidence the government worked hard to keep from you.
This latest report adds to the mounting evidence, including that provided by dozens of representatives to the recent senate inquiry, that the card does not work. It proves that not only should the trials not be made permanent, but that cashless welfare is a failed experiment that must be stopped altogether before it causes any more damage.
The most vocal stakeholders in support of cashless welfare are the big corporations who stand to profit – corporations who wield great power and influence over government policy while those affected by these decisions have none.
We call on the government to withdraw this bill, but we have no expectation that they will do the right thing. People on the card, civil society groups and other experts have attempted to work with the government and in return they have consistently ignored evidence and the needs of the communities affected. The government has continually acted in bad faith, trying to force the bill through parliament whilst sitting on a report that exposes its problems in the face of crossbench calls for further evidence.
The government must stop undermining democracy by continuing to ignore stakeholders, withhold evidence and manipulate the senate.
Media contact: 0413 261 362 / media at auwu.org.au
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