Labor scraps cashless welfare card, encourages Queenslanders to try new version

Anthony Albanese’s $217m backflip for just 22 Queenslanders on welfare is a move “straight out of Utopia”, critics claim.

Services Australia is actively recommending former cashless debit card holders in Bundaberg and Hervey Bay voluntarily sign up to the new SmartCard despite Labor’s $217 million election commitment to scrap the card.

Recently released weekly reports from the Department of Social Services, documenting the transition away from the cashless debit card, shows an increase in anti-social behaviour within weeks of the process start, though this abated in December.

From February the reports noted a rise in emergency relief requests, mental health issues and school refusals for under 18s – but the reports state this is due to the housing crisis and increased cost of living, not the cessation of the CDC.

Hinkler MP Keith Pitt has the Bundaberg/Hervey Bay cashless debit card trial site in his electorate. Picture: News Corp

But updates of the transition from February state that Services Australia is promoting the SmartCard “as a budgeting tool”.

Last week it was revealed there were just 22 people left in Bundaberg and Hervey Bay on an income management card, down from more than 7000.

Hinkler MP Keith Pitt said scrapping the card, then encouraging people back on it voluntarily, was a complete about face.

“It’s straight out of Utopia. The ABC should make an episode based on Labor’s approach to the cashless debit card,” he said.

“At a time when people are doing it tough, Labor have taken away a tool in the toolbox that helped people manage their budget and spent $217 million in the process.”

Mr Pitt said it was too soon to write off requests for relief and food as unrelated to the ending of the CDC.

“There’s reports of windows being smashed and smash and grabs along the Hervey Bay foreshore. I don’t think there’s too many people who think getting rid of the CDC was a good thing,” he said.

Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said the CDC was an “ideological obsession” of the former government and not supported by evidence.

“While there’s a lot of emotion around this debate, it’s disappointing to see communities used in political games by the Opposition,” she said.

“The issues faced by these communities are complex and intergenerational.

“It’s interesting that Mr Pitt is saying it’s too soon to attribute issues to the housing crisis and cost-of-living but he is happy to point to the CDC cessation.

“We know members of Mr Pitt’s community felt the Cashless Debit Card program degraded their quality of life and were happy when Labor abolished it.”