The government's last-minute addition to its social security bill, granting the Minister power to suspend or cancel welfare payments before a person is convicted of a crime, will see children going hungry, Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe says.
Addressing reporters on Tuesday, Senator Thorpe criticised Labor's amendment to legislation which offers up to $600 in compensation to around three million people affected by the unlawful Centrelink debt recovery scheme, arguing it would give police excessive powers to stop welfare payments.
"People are innocent [until] proven guilty," Senator Thorpe said. "We look at the assault on Aboriginal women who are victims of family violence, and the cops rock up. And then Aboriginal women become the perpetrators."
The 2024 Senate Inquiry into Missing and Murdered First Nations Women and Children found the frequent misidentification of women as perpetrators puts First Nations women at risk. It revealed victims of domestic and family violence - including women who are later murdered - are often wrongly accused of serious offences by police.
In Victoria, the Yoorrook Justice Commission heard from Indigenous legal organisations who reported a significant number of Aboriginal women being accused of family violence, despite being the ones who called police for help - often resulting in child protection intervention.
Senator Thorpe argued the "assault" on an Aboriginal woman by police was a clear example of why law enforcement did not need more legislative powers.
"Police don't need powers to stop people's Centrelink payments," she said. "It's an overreach, and...it breaches human rights."
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The amendment, which was quietly introduced by the government, would allow the Home Affairs Minister to suspend welfare payments for individuals accused of a "serious violent or sexual offence" or those who "might prejudice the security of Australia or a foreign country" if an arrest warrant has been issued.
Payments that could be affected include concession cards, pensions, JobSeeker, Youth Allowance, Family Tax Benefit, and Parental Leave Pay.
It is understood there are concerns sovereign citizen Dezi Freeman - accused of killing two Victorian police officers and still on the run - may be accessing social welfare payments, something Senator Thorpe highlighted on Tuesday.
"Just because the cops can't find Dezi Freeman does not mean that the rest of the country on Centrelink benefits has to pay for one person's mistakes," she said.
"We're talking about penalising people's children. And when children are affected here, then there's something wrong. If there was any good about this last-minute addition to the legislation, then why weren't they upfront telling people?"
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Independent MP Andrew Wilkie echoed Senator Thorpe's concerns, describing the amendment as "punitive" and "wrong." He said the principle of natural justice - that a person is innocent until proven guilty - must be upheld.
"So the whole notion of taking income support of anyone in the community simply because they are accused of something is a fundamental breach of natural justice," he said.
"It is wrong. It's also punitive, because the person who has the income support stopped is, in all likelihood, providing financial support for someone else, for the wife and the kids, for the family."
He said the changes contradicted findings of the Robodebt Royal Commission, which warned against punitive Centrelink practices, and accused Labor of abandoning its principles.
"We have a Federal Labor government which is slowly crab walking across to the right and becoming more and more conservative and more and more like the other mob, and that's very, very distressing for a lot of Australians," Mr Wilkie said.
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The original bill - introduced in response to a High Court ruling - sought to establish a compensation scheme for those affected by unlawful income apportionment, where entitlements were miscalculated by averaging incomes.
It was reviewed by both the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights and a Senate committee, which handed down reports last month. It is understood neither the Coalition nor the Greens were aware of the amendments.
Senator Thorpe has called for an inquiry into the proposed change, noting it had not been scrutinised by the lower house or the Human Rights Committee.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, who would have final authority over any suspensions, told SBS News the change was justified, arguing "the Government shouldn't be paying people to hide from police".
A spokesperson for the Minister for Social Services, Tanya Plibersek, told the ABC dependents would be considered when any decision was made, but argued: "If someone is charged with a serious offence like murder, terrorism, or child sexual abuse and is on the run, they should not continue receiving a payment from the government."
