Outraged Ceduna residents want a public debate over crime wave
Ceduna has long been a crime and racial powder keg, but Labor’s scrapping of the cashless welfare card has some crying out for an honest conversation.
Some angry Ceduna residents want a town hall meeting to openly debate dumping of the Coalition’s Cashless Debit Card in the crime-stricken outback South Australian town.
Councillors, businesses and community leaders are examining a series of options to respond to concern about crime in the town in the state’s west, where critics say offending increased after the card was scrapped.
Councillor Hayley Nicholls, one of the people critical of the response to the crime issue, has backed the community having a voice. “When is a community voice not a good thing?’’ she said. “Everybody should be heard.’’
Another senior council source said there was momentum for a summit into the crisis, with dozens of businesses last week lamenting the state of the town and blaming an influx of First Nations people from outlying areas for much of the problems.
How a town hall meeting would work has not been determined.
Opposition social services spokesman Michael Sukkar said he would back a summit if it helped the community deal with the problem.
“Residents of Ceduna are innocent victims of Labor abolishing the CDC,’’ he said. “And if they are now seeking a summit to identify solutions and address problems then the opposition would of course support it.’’
The Department of Social Services said it would attend a regular monthly “service collaboration” forum in Ceduna on May 16, organised by Far West Community Partners.
The prospect of a town hall debate over the crime issue is being widely discussed, although not with unanimous support. Community leader Tullie Seneca said she was worried any public event could lead to a racist response.
“I do worry that racism could become part of that,’’ she said. “I am worried that the message might get lost.”
All levels of government are trying to calm emotions after dozens of businesses were in revolt last week over theft and threats to the town’s reputation, with public drunkenness, vandalism and family violence common problems.
The town is split over the extent to which axing of the cashless debt card had actually fuelled issues in the community.
District Council of Ceduna mayor Ken Maynard said he was unsure whether the CDC was the driving force behind offending, often seen on the street.
He said much of the crime seemed to be driven by the weather, with more people travelling into Ceduna in summer to get away from the blistering heat.
“It’s (crime) starting to taper off now,’’ he said. “It’s just one of the seasonal things.’’
The CDC quarantined 80 per cent of working age recipients’ income support payments in selected trial sites, starting in 2016 in Ceduna. The quarantined cash could not be spent on alcohol or gambling nor to withdraw cash, while 20 per cent of support money went into the individuals’ bank accounts.
About 75 per cent in the Ceduna trial were Indigenous, with trials also in Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland.
Ceduna has been a crime and racial powder keg for generations and last week several businesspeople reopened debate about the CDC, saying its withdrawal had been a key driver of the problems in the town.
Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said anti-social behaviour was a problem in many places across Australia. “Many towns, particularly in regional and remote Australia are dealing with complex and intergenerational problems, where there is no one solution,’’ she said.
“A number of towns experiencing a rise in anti-social behaviour were never on the CDC program, and some towns that were on the CDC program have seen a reduction in anti-social behaviour post the card’s removal.
“The mandatory, punitive CDC program was an ideological obsession pursued by the Coalition and it’s important to note income management is still in existence in towns like Ceduna via the SmartCard.
“There was no evidence that the CDC worked, but the Coalition kept throwing taxpayer money at it.”
