Linda Burney (Barton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

In yet another shambolic chapter of government's ongoing botched robo-debt debacle, the Minister for Human Services was forced to make an embarrassing backdown. The Turnbull government's targeting of the most vulnerable Australians with its failed robo-debt program was a new low for a government that seems to have an endless appetite for demonising vulnerable Australians. Get this, everyone: this government wanted to expand its robo-debt program to people with mental illness, intellectual or cognitive conditions; people requiring medical treatment; and people experiencing homelessness. How did the minister honestly think a homeless person was going to fetch their pay slips to respond to one of the government's robo-debt queries? This is truly cruel. Over 29,000 Australians have been issued with false or inflated robo-debts. What was the minister thinking to extend this to a group of people who don't have the capacity or resources to respond?

If the minister wants to save himself further embarrassment, he should not just pause the program but cease it. And, Minister, while you're at it, get your people out of Werribee. Stop terrifying them. Leave them alone to get on with their lives.

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