MOREE’S representative in the federal government has called on the community to keep an open mind about the possible trial of a welfare card which would prohibit spending on alcohol or gambling.
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Federal Member for Parkes, Mark Coulton, said the plan was an attempt to tackle the issues of child neglect and substance abuse – but would not go ahead if it was rejected by the community.
On Wednesday afternoon, representatives of the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs held a meeting with social service providers in Moree to provide more details of the proposal and seek feedback.
“This is part of a discussion, nothing has been imposed on the community and unless the community gets behind it then it probably won’t go ahead,” Mr Coulton said.
“Having said that, my hope is that people will listen to the proposal before they jump to conclusions.”
So far the department has not provided details to the Moree Champion, despite several requests.
A spokesperson said the department had already held several consultations with community groups and representatives of local and state government, but had no current plans for a public meeting.
Mr Coulton said the details were not finalised and would take into account community concerns.
“This proposal works so that if you are using your welfare to purchase the basic necessities of life there would be no difference, it’s just the card doesn’t work in venues that sell alcohol or gambling venues,” Mr Coulton said.
Mr Coulton added that the card, which would look like a normal credit card, would not be entirely cashless.
“There is a cash component,” he said. “Obviously people still need to take their kids to the footy and even if you wanted to buy an ice cream on the way home it should work for those sort of things.”
Putting eftpos machines into schools would also be a way of allowing parents to pay for things like school excursions, Mr Coulton said.
“But that’s probably not even a discussion for now,” he said. “At the moment, the discussion is: Does the community think this would be something useful?
“The detail will come after there has been more discussions.”
Mr Coulton also said it was important not to view the potential trial of the welfare card as aimed at the indigenous community.
“One of the reasons that Moree would be considered is that the welfare recipients in Moree are about 50-50 Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, and so it would apply to all welfare recipients,” he said.
Mr Coulton said it was his understanding that once the trial sites had been finalised the government would be looking to roll out the new system to by the end of the year to have it implemented in early 2016.
“If it did go ahead – and I stress ‘if’ – and it was found to be too restrictive or it were disadvantaging people because they couldn’t function properly, then there would be an opportunity to restructure it and change it,” he said.
Mr Coulton said he’d had discussions with many residents of the Moree over a number of years who were concerned about the effects of drugs and alcohol on families.
“This is one way that it could possibly be addressed, but if the community don’t want it, then it won’t happen,” he said.
“Quite frankly though, if we do the same thing, then nothing changes.”