Mary Doyle (Aston, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Robodebt should never have happened. It was quite simply a heartless plan that went on for far too long. If there have been much stronger scrutiny of this plan and more effective checks and balances, perhaps this could have been prevented. The hurt, pain and devastating loss suffered by many due to robodebt can never truly be accounted for, but we can take steps to help ensure that it can never happen again. Oversight makes our institutions stronger and our democracy better, and, most importantly, oversight ensures that government agencies are accountable to the people they are there to serve.

The report of the robodebt royal commission made it abundantly clear: strong and effective oversight mechanisms are fundamental to safeguard the community in their dealings with government. Trust in government depends on this very thing. This bill, the Oversight Legislation Amendment (Robodebt Royal Commission Response and Other Measures) Bill 2024, helps address two recommendations from the robodebt royal commission and looks to expand the statutory duty to assist the functioning of the Ombudsman. In directly addressing recommendations 21.1 and 21.2 of the final report, this legislation seeks to improve public trust in government. It recognises the importance of ensuring the Ombudsman has the necessary legislative powers to undertake full, independent and transparent investigations. The bill implements this recommendation in full, but it goes further than this. The bill extends its statutory duty to assist the Ombudsman to all of the Ombudsman's functions. This means that agencies will be required to assist regardless of whether the Ombudsman is making preliminary inquiries, conducting an investigation or following up on implementation of its recommendations.

This is about good governance, about having the arms of government be accountable and about the ethics that form how policy is implemented. This is also about providing a measure of justice for the 430,000 people who had unlawful debt notices raised against them. Demonising and victimising welfare recipients is not something that anyone should do, let alone a government. The word 'welfare', as I spoke about in my first speech to parliament in 2023, is not a dirty word. It's for the welfare of people in society who, for whatever reason, need a helping hand. It's for people who are at their most vulnerable. The thing they need least at this time is a fake debt letter generated by a robo-scheme demanding thousands of dollars be repaid.

We are only here because public servants, like the heroic Colleen Taylor, showed incredible courage in speaking up, showing the integrity and empathy that so many of the public servants I have met also strive to show.

I was elected in April 2023 and became the new member for Aston, the second Labor MP for this electorate and its first woman MP in its 39-year history at the time. The preceding member for Aston, Alan Tudge—Liberal MP and former minister in the coalition government—oversaw the Department of Human Services at the time of robodebt. This minister helped wage a campaign of hate and division against the most vulnerable people in society. The widely reported way in which this former minister for human services conducted himself and his office is a reflection on the values that led to schemes like robodebt. The royal commission heard evidence that this former minister, Alan Tudge, sought information from the private Centrelink files of those people who spoke out about robodebt in the media, so he could shut them down. Then, he provided that private Centrelink information to journalists for publication. Who does that to Australian citizens? Who does that to the disabled, to pensioners, to single parents, to people trying to find a job? It's unfathomable. The legacy that Alan Tudge left is one that we will all remember for all the wrong reasons and the pain that has been endured, not just in members in my community, whose stories I've heard, but from all across the country and in evidence to the royal commission.

It's an enduring legacy that cannot and should not be forgotten. The victims hurt by robodebt were fleeing domestic violence. They were homeless; they were sick or frail and those most vulnerable in society. These are the people for whom the term 'social security' is supposed to mean something, as I spoke about in my first speech to parliament. The report may have been released, its findings published, but for those whose lives have been forever changed or, indeed, for those who lost their lives and for their devastated loved ones left behind because of this scheme, the battle goes on. The scars remain.

There are still unanswered questions, and for many victims, no answer will ever be enough. This should never have happened. Lives should never have been lost. The swift establishment of the robodebt royal commission when the Albanese government came into power speaks to how outraged we, like many Australians, felt about this dark stain on our history. There was clear legislation, but successive ministers directed that this legislation not be followed. We only know about this because of the royal commission. We must find a way to move forward, but remember the lessons here.

The reforms recommended by the royal commission are a line in the sand. These changes are part of our larger plan for reform. It's reform that the Albanese government is delivering, because we know that making these changes now means that people who rely on the government for assistance can have trust in the ethics and morals of those in government providing that service.

By providing additional funding for the Commonwealth Ombudsman to boost its oversight of government agencies and new funding to reinstate the Administrative Review Council, to support better decision-making across government, the Albanese government is committed to ensuring that the integrity of government is never compromised again. We can never fully undo that harm, but we can at least promise this to those who had to go through it and to everyone else: never again.

By further investing in better decision-making, through implementing these two recommendations from the royal commission's report, we improve public trust in how governments implement policy and prove that strong institutions are fundamental to government. We must always aim to meet and exceed the needs and expectations of the community. The only way to do this is through consistently proving ourselves to the public as having integrity, accountability, acting lawfully, being fair and transparent. This bill will bolster the powers and capability of oversight bodies so that we can ensure this. I commend this bill to the House.

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