The Government is using the final Parliamentary sitting week of this year to push through legislation to make the current Cashless Debit Card trial sites permanent and extend the card to the Northern Territory and Cape York to replace the BasicsCard, despite no evidence it works. 
 
“We’ve had 13 years of this discriminatory punitive policy. 13 years of targeting First Nations peoples and those on low incomes with income management, Senator Rachel Siewert, Greens Spokesperson on Family and Community Services said. 
 

Labour market economist Professor Jeff Borland has told the senate inquiry looking into the JobSeeker COVID supplement rate that the higher rate of JobSeeker doesn’t impact on the rates of people seeking employment. 
 
Rather than relying on anecdotal claims that unemployed people aren’t looking for work because of the rates of the coronavirus supplement, Professor Borland has looked at the market figures which show there has been no decrease in the number of people moving from unemployment to employment once the economy started reopening again, Senator Rachel Siewert said. 

The Greens welcome the member for Bass Bridget Archer's comments on the Cashless Debit Card and urge the senate crossbench to vote against the card in the Senate. 
 
“The desperate pursuit of the Cashless Debit Card by this Government is rooted in ideology, not evidence”, Senator Rachel Siewert said. 
 
I’ve been to the trial sites and am regularly in contact with people on the card, and it most certainly is causing very high levels of anxiety.
 

The Greens say the Parliament needs to be aware that making the Cashless Debit Card permanent may jeopardise the integrity of ASIC’s regulatory powers.
 
Under section 12DL of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Asic) Act 2001, sending a debit card or credit card to a person who did not ask for one is prohibited.

Labour market economist Professor Jeff Borland has told the senate inquiry looking into the JobSeeker COVID supplement rate that the higher rate of JobSeeker doesn’t impact on the rates of people seeking employment. 
 
Rather than relying on anecdotal claims that unemployed people aren’t looking for work because of the rates of the coronavirus supplement, Professor Borland has looked at the market figures which show there has been no decrease in the number of people moving from unemployment to employment once the economy started reopening again, Senator Rachel Siewert said. 

The Greens say that the HILDA survey showing a steep increase in single parent families living in poverty is a shocking outcome and a clear indication that the Parenting Payment Single must be reinstated until the youngest child turns 16.
 
“There is a direct correlation between the increase in the poverty rate of single parents and the Howard and Gillard Governments chucking single parents off the Parenting Payment onto Newstart when their youngest child turned eight,” Senator Rachel Siewert, Australian Greens spokesperson on Family and Community Services said. 
 

October unemployment figures clearly show that it is untenable to return Jobseeker back to $40 a day in March and that the further cut to the coronavirus supplement in December will drop more people below the poverty line. 
 
It’s just excuse after excuse with this Government when it comes to the Jobseeker payment, Greens spokesperson on Family and Community and Services, Senator Rachel Siewert said. 
 
Jobseeker was too low before this pandemic, so the “wait to see the economic conditions” excuse doesn't stand up. 
 

The Greens have tabled a dissenting report to the inquiry into the Government’s Social Security (Administration) Amendment (Continuation of Cashless Welfare) Bill 2020 saying that there isn’t evidence to justify the use of the card, that in fact the process adversely impacts people and should be abandoned.
 

The Greens say that it is imperative that the Commonwealth learn the hard lesson from the Victorian aged care COVID outbreak and take leadership before it is too late. 
 
"All providers must be focused on preventing the entry and spread of Covid-19 in aged care facilities", Greens spokesperson on Ageing Senator Rachel Siewert said. 
 
What we learnt from the Victorian experience is that aged care providers cannot wait to act once an outbreak occurs. 
 

The Greens have welcomed the Productivity Commission report into Mental Health and say that it has provided a clear way forward for the Government in reforming Australia’s mental health system.
 
“It is a great shame that this report has not been released earlier and that the Government didn’t take the opportunity in the recent budget to start the process of reform that is so urgently needed.