Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

So many people have been terribly affected by the robodebt scandal. There have been tragic needless suicides. Last week I met with a constituent in my electorate who is still very distressed about the whole shameful episode. She's middle-aged. She has been unemployed only once in her life, and it was 10 years ago. She received Newstart for five months. She got back to work as soon as she could. But years later, through robodebt, Centrelink told her she owed money, and debt collectors harassed and threatened her. They rang her workplace demanding pay slips and threatening that she would be sent to jail. She couldn't see where she owed any money at all, but she paid it back. She wanted the harassment to stop. She's still suffering from anxiety and depression.

When the government settled the class action—a whopping $1.2 billion—she was sent a refund for the money that they had wrongly demanded from her: $300. But she's not going to cash the cheque. She's worried debt collectors will come after her again. Her message to Minister Robert and the Prime Minister, who have shown little remorse, is: 'I am an honest person. Your harassment continues to affect my health and my family. You have done so much damage. Leave me alone.'

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