Tasmanian Liberal MP speaks out against Government’s cashless welfare scheme

A federal Liberal backbencher has hit out at the Coalition’s plan to make a controversial scheme a permanent fixture of Australia’s social welfare framework, labelling it as “punitive” and arguing her community could never support it.

Tasmanian Liberal Bridget Archer argues numerous inquiries have failed to find any evidence the cashless debit card scheme has any benefit to at-risk communities.

And she says it fails to address systemic issues of…