An Indigenous voice to parliament and crime wave gripping remote communities will be in focus as Anthony Albanese takes his cabinet to Western Australia.

The prime minister and his senior ministers will meet in Port Hedland on Tuesday, with WA Premier Mark McGowan to give an address.

Afterwards, Mr Albanese and his cabinet will hold a meeting with about 150 Indigenous and other community leaders, amid criticism from the coalition over Labor’s decision to scrap the cashless debit card.

The card, which was abolished in September last year, managed welfare payments for recipients in a bid to reduce the amount being spent on alcohol.

Regional communities including Laverton and Leonora in the state’s Goldfields, are experiencing a spike in youth crime.

Speaking from Perth on Monday, Mr Albanese defended the government’s decision to abolish it, a promise Labor took to the May election last year.

“When we’re dealing with issues in some of these communities, we’re dealing with intergenerational issues,” he said.

“(Issues) that can’t be solved in a day or a week, ones that require governments that work together with the community to listen and respond.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who is also visiting the crime-hit towns this week, said the decision to dump the controversial income management program had resulted in the “rivers of grog” reopening.

“They’ve started to flow and we’re seeing a step-up in violence again,” he said.

“There are a lot of mayors here in WA at the moment in regional and remote areas, who are very worried that they’re heading down the Alice Springs path.”

The government plans to introduce legislation to enable the vote on the voice in March, with the referendum to be held later this year.

– AAP

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