I’m proud to be leading the fight in Tasmania to scrap the Morrison Government’s plan to expand the cashless welfare card to all Australian pensioners.
Unfortunately, we know from the facts that the Liberals and Nationals want to expand the cashless welfare card to include all pensioners. This means that 80% of your pension will be put on a card and the government can then control where you spend your own pension.
Click HERE to stop the Liberals' cruel plan to put pensioners on the cashless pension card.
See some of the things that Morrison Liberal-Nationals Government Ministers have said about the card below:
1. They’ve put it in legislation.
You can view the legislation (the Social Security (Administration) Amendment (Continuation of Cashless Welfare) Bill 2020), by clicking here.
2. Social Services Minister Anne Ruston confirmed that they’re “seeking to put all income management on to the universal platform, which is the cashless debit card.”
She said this in an interview with 7NEWS.
3. Social Services Minister Anne Ruston is publicly hinting at extensions to the card
“First, the current Minister for Social Services was reported as saying that for CDC “to be a mainstream financial literacy tool for Australia it does need to be rolled out away from just rural and regional communities, and that’s the conversation we need to have with the Australian public…”. She added: “It does need to have a broader application than perhaps the social harm reduction that the original policy was designed on”.”
Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association, 28 Oct 2020.
You can view the full article by clicking here.
4. In an official ministerial response, Social Services Minister Anne Ruston refused to rule out changing rules of card to expand its use.
“CPSA [the Combined Pensioners and Superannuants’ Association] finally, after four months, received a ministerial response. This is what it says:
Under current legislation, Age Pension recipients are not eligible to become compulsory [Cashless Welfare Card] participants…
Under current legislation, the letter says.
This falls well short of a categorical statement that Age Pensioners will never be put on the Cashless Welfare Card.
It would be such a simple statement to make.
Why doesn’t the Minister make it?”
Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association, 24 March 2020.
You can read the full article here.
5. Social Services Minister Anne Ruston wants the debit card to become a ‘more universal platform’
“I see… the cashless debit card becoming a more universal platform”
Anne Ruston, The Sydney Morning Herald, 1 Feb 2020
You can view the full article by clicking here.
6. Social Services Minister Anne Ruston: ‘It is absolutely our intention to keep working with – not just with the CDC – but with a whole list of other programmes.’
7. Social Services Minister Anne Ruston refused to rule out a further roll-out of the card.
Start listening at about 8 minutes in.
8. A staffer in Minister David Gillespie MP’s office reportedly let the cat out of the bag.
9. Nationals MP Keith Pitt sees benefit in a national rollout.
The Kenny Report, Sky News, 28 Nov 2019
10. Senior Nationals MP Matt Canavan also backs a nationwide rollout of the card.
Sky News with Peter Stefanovic, 8 Dec 2020
Read more by clicking here.
11. Senior Minister Paul Fletcher says, ‘Our Liberal-National Government is committed to the cashless debit card.’
Watch the interview below.
Sky News doorstop, 25 March 2019
12. And Prime Minister Scott Morrison fully backs the card too.
According to Scott Morrison, the card is “commending itself for further application.”
Read more about his thoughts here.
Special thanks to Justine Elliot MP and Julian Hill MP for their leadership of the Protecting Pensioners Taskforce.
