‘Puzzled’: Scott Morrison defends welfare drug testing plan
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has defended his plan to drug test welfare recipients, saying he is puzzled by opposition to the proposed two-year trials.
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Prime Minister Scott Morrison has defended his plan to drug test welfare recipients, saying he is puzzled by opposition to the proposed two-year trials.
Mr Morrison told ABC’s 7.30 he was “puzzled” that the trial had caused controversy and that the idea was “worth a try”.
“We’re trying to work out if this can work,” he told host Leigh Sales.
“I’m really puzzled by the level of opposition to the government trying to tackle a problem of drug addiction for people who aren’t in work and helping them get over it with referral to proper services.
“And if that works, well that gives us the opportunity to take that out more broadly - that seems like a good plan to me,” he said.
Earlier, the PM targeted Anthony Albanese’s branch of the Labor Party as being tainted by the “big stench of corruption” in a heated Question Time.
As parliament returned from the winter break, Labor moved to target a slowing national economy, criticising the government’s fiscal settings, The Australian reports.
The Prime Minister hit back angrily, attacking the NSW Labor Party’s Sussex Street office. and referencing the recent ICAC hearings.
“What is happening on the side of the Labor Party, and I was asked about the Labor Party, is chaos,” Mr Morrison said in parliament.
“It’s chaos and uncertainty and in New South Wales, there is the big stench of corruption, Mr Speaker.
“When I said we had to recycle plastics, Mr Speaker, I didn’t mean Aldi plastic bags stuffed full of cash. That was not my plan, Mr Speaker. But it is certainly the plan of the New South Wales Labor Party.”
NSW Labor has been crushed by allegations of corruption and susceptibility to foreign interferences, which has led to the downfall of state general secretary Kaila Murnain.
LAMBIE BACKTRACKS ON TRIALS
Meanwhile, the drug tests for welfare recipients could face further delays after Jacqui Lambie walked back her support for the controversial trials.
The two-year trials, which would launch drug testing for 5000 welfare recipients at three locations across Australia, looked set to pass parliament after Senator Lambie said she was “happy” to back the government’s proposal.
But the Tasmanian senator on Monday signalled the government would have to implement random drug testing for politicians and look at more funding for rehabilitation facilities to secure her support.
“This isn’t really about getting people off drugs. It’s about kicking people off payments,” Senator Lambie said.
“You can’t punish someone for being on drugs if they don’t have the help available to get them off it. We have to get the services in place to help people.”
Senator Lambie said the government needed to show it was “interested in more than punishing people who are on welfare”.
“If you kick a drug addict off payments, they don’t magically get better,” she said.
“They just become a junkie with a habit to service and no money to service it with. So what you end up seeing is more cars being broken into, more TVs being flogged at Cash Converters, more prostitution, more crime, more cost and no fewer drug addicts.
“My message to the government is simple - fix the support services and you’ll get my support too. Until then, get off your high horse and get back to work.”
The tests have already been knocked back twice by the Senate after they were first proposed in 2017.
It comes as Barnaby Joyce added his voice to a growing number of MPs who said they would happily submit to random drug tests if it helped convince Senator Lambie to back the legislation.
“I have no problems with it,” the former Deputy Prime Minister said today.
“I don't think it is right that someone should be passing laws to stop people sticking crap up their nose and they're doing it themselves. I have no problems whatsoever with drug testing politicians,” he told Channel 7's Sunrise program.
Labor frontbencher Joel Fitzgibbon and deputy Labor leader Richard Marles were also happy to be tested but criticised the Coalition’s push to test dole recipients to identify individuals who may have a substance abuse issue stopping them from seeking work.
Senator Lambie has also backed Scott Morrison's proposal for a massive expansion of the cashless debit card, saying she would like to see it rolled out across the country.
“I’ve always been a big supporter of the cashless welfare card. I’ve seen the results that that has had," Senator Lambie told reporters in Canberra last night.
The two-year drug testing trial would include 5000 welfare recipients on Newstart or Youth Allowance in Canterbury Bankstown in Sydney, Logan, south of Brisbane, and Mandurah, south of Perth.
Anyone who tested positive to using drugs such as marijuana, ecstasy, heroine, cocaine or crystal methamphetamine would be put on income management during the trial.
They would then be forced to seek treatment if they failed a second test.
“If you've worked your entire life and now you're being ordered to pee in a cup in order to get your Newstart — what message is that sending?” Mr Marles told ABC this morning.
“I think that there is no evidence at all which suggests that this makes any difference.”
Mr Marles accused the government of focusing on issues to “wedge Labor” in a sitting week rather than focusing on the economy.
ALBANESE SLIDES AS MORRISON SURGES
It comes as Labor leader Anthony Albanese had his first serious setback in voter support, according to the latest Newspoll reported exclusively by The Australian.
Mr Albanese’s approval rating has taken a dip for the first time since he became Labor leader three months ago.
His approval rating dropped six points to 35 per cent. Those dissatisfied with his performance spiked six points to 40 per cent, leaving him with a net negative approval rating of minus 5.
The six-point slide in approval was possibly fuelled by the polarising debate over the case of a Tamil asylum-seeker family who are facing deportation.
The case of the Tamil family has dominated and divided political opinion over immigration, with Scott Morrison refusing to make an exception and stay their deportation.
Approval for Morrison rose one point to 49 per cent, while those unhappy with his leadership fell three points to 39 per cent.
Popular support for both major parties is stronger than it was for the May 18 election.
The Coalition’s primary vote rose one point over the last poll to 43 per cent. The party attained victory at the last election with 41.4 per cent of the vote.
Labor rose a point to 35 per cent, despite its poor economic figures released last week.
The two-party-preferred vote has stayed at 51-49 in favour of the Coalition.
The Greens and One Nation aside, support for independents and minor parties has dropped from 9 per cent to 5 per cent.
Support for One Nation has risen to 5 per cent. Support for the Greens rose one point to 12 per cent.
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Mr Albanese’s drop in popularity constitutes a 12-point reversal over the last poll since beginning his leadership.
The Labor leader now trails Mr Morrison by 20 points as the preferred prime minister.
Mr Morrison’s lead is the widest margin experienced by a prime minister over an opposition leader since Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten in April 2016.
It comes as NSW Labor struggles with a corruption scandal and Mr Albanese faces a showdown with the government this week on legislation concerning social issues, the approach to which has split the Labor Party.
Today, the government will place more pressure on the opposition to back laws to protect farmers from activists, named the “vegan terrorist bill”, before putting up further laws to crack down on multinational tax avoidance.
Mr Albanese will also face increasing pressure over the “big stick” divestiture laws to clamp down on gutting energy companies, which Labor had previously opposed, with the Coalition vowing to bring that too to a vote within this sitting fortnight.
— with The Australian
Originally published as ‘Puzzled’: Scott Morrison defends welfare drug testing plan
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