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CRIMINALS convicted of hard-drug offences will have their welfare payments quarantined for 12 months under a Coalition plan to stop government handouts being spent on drugs, alcohol and cigarettes.
As part of a dramatic expansion of John Howard’s push to ensure welfare payments are not being wasted by recipients, convicted drug abusers and traffickers would only be able to spend their welfare money on necessities such as food.
The Howard Government’s intervention in Northern Territory Aboriginal communities involves quarantining half of parents’ social security payments, with the money set aside by authorities for essential household expenses, such as schooling for children.
Before the election campaign, the Coalition cabinet approved a plan to extend the welfare clampdown, first proposed by Aboriginal leader Noel Pearson on Queensland’s Cape York, to non-indigenous Australians.
Parents of children considered to be at risk would face the threat of Centrelink taking control of half their family assistance payments for up to 12 months.
The latest proposal, hailed by the Prime Minister as an extension of his zero-tolerance approach to drugs, would cost about $36 million over four years and could affect the welfare payments of about 6000 people a year.
Releasing the plan in Sydney yesterday, Mr Howard said people convicted of offences involving hard drugs such as heroin, cocaine and amphetamines would be able to use their welfare payments to cover bills and essential items such as food.
But a system managed by Centrelink and non-government organisations would lock up 100per cent of welfare payments to ensure the money was not spent on drugs, tobacco and alcohol. And the 12-month quarantine period could be extended if welfare recipients faced new drugs convictions.
The new quarantine rules would be introduced in December next year if the Coalition were re-elected, Mr Howard said. And the Coalition would consider extending the policy, depending on its success, to people convicted of criminal offences involving other drugs, such as cannabis.
Mr Howard said Labor’s preference deal with the Greens, who were “soft” on drugs, showed the ALP was not as strict on the issue.
But he unveiled a plan to give extra support to drug addicts. Welfare recipients who are convicted of drug offences would be eligible for immediate referral to rehabilitation services to help them overcome their drug problems, and Mr Howard promised to expand assistance to help drug addicts get a job.
Addicts’ eligibility for Job Capacity Account services — money assigned to unemployed people for job training and other services — would be extended from the current maximum of 13 weeks to up to 26 weeks, giving them access to up to $2500.
Mr Howard said that if re-elected, he would seek greater consistency in the drug laws across state jurisdictions to develop a “national standard relating to the quantities involved in the trafficking and possession of illicit drugs”.
“A re-elected Coalition government will expect the states and territories to adopt these national standards,” Mr Howard said. “We are the zero-tolerance Coalition when it comes to drugs.”
But his proposals met with
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hostility from experts and users, who say it will increase crime rates and unduly punish people struggling to get their lives back on track. Mr Howard was also heavily criticised for attempting to make political gain out of those struggling to deal with personal problems.
Tony Trimingham, head of the Family Drug Support group, described the plan as “diabolical”.
“It is totally counter-productive and a stripping of citizen’s rights,” he said.
“It will also make the misery of the families of addicted people more severe. Emphasis should be placed on rehabilitation and making sure people live normal lives.”
A former heroin user, Colin Griffith, who has worked on a number of different public health programs relating to drugs and addiction, said Mr Howard’s approach was a “war on drug users” not a “war on drugs”.
“Addiction is best handled by health professionals instead of politicians with no expertise in the area who are promoting fear in the community for personal political gain during an election campaign. It’s easy to kick people already in the gutter,” he said.
Reverend Harry Herbert, executive director of UnitingCare, which runs the medically supervised injecting room in Kings Cross, described the announcement as a sign of desperation by Mr Howard. He said the withdrawal of welfare payments was harsh and excessive and did not take into account the fact that many users who came in contact with the legal system were struggling to get off drugs and get on with their lives.
Annie Madden, from the Australian Injecting and Illicit Drug Users League, said research clearly showed punitive measures almost always failed to alter the behaviour of current drug users, and using the welfare system as a form of punishment would only make these people more desperate and more disenfranchised.
She said it would increase crime rates and the suffering of drug addicts’ families.
Mr Rudd said said Mr Howard was desperately producing policies in the shadow of polling day to cling to power.