Campaign to expand cashless welfare card scheme presents video to PM

A video of horrific violence that has become commonplace in WA communities has been presented to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull as part of a campaign to expand the cashless welfare card.

The video was funded by mining magnate Andrew Forrest and includes an interview with outgoing Police Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan.

It starts with the question: “What is happening to our children?”

The video shows graphic footage of a man stomping on another man as he lies on the ground.

In the video Police Commissioner O’Callaghan says: “It’s a warzone out there and the victims are little children”.

According to the statistics in the video, up to one in three children are being abused in some WA towns.

Commissioner O’Callaghan has previously said expanding the welfare card would reduce the amount of money available for criminal activities, the purchase of drugs and alcohol and child abuse.

The video was presented to the Prime Minister in Canberra on Wednesday.

Speaking in Canberra, Andrew Forrest said: “What we have had is not enough, what we have had is delivering our children into hell".

"We need to get the Labor Party firmly behind it, we need the Labor Party to listen to the little children, we need the Greens in particular to listen to the little children,” he said according to the ABC.

Mr Forrest emphasised the need for MPs to support a process which helped people help themselves.

The cashless welfare card has been trialled at Kununurra in WA and Ceduna in SA.

It limits participants’ access to cash by placing 80 percent of their welfare onto a debit card which cannot be used to buy alcohol or gamble.