Kate Ellis (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to outline yet another example of the manner in which this government has treated the Australian population with utter contempt, and I talk about the Centrelink debt debacle which we have seen over recent months. There have been many examples cited in this House and many cited in the media of Australians who have been treated appallingly by a government that should have known better and, when they were told what was happening, could have displayed a little bit of heart and a little bit of compassion and could have stood up and admitted that, in this case, they absolutely got it wrong.

Sadly, Adelaide is no different to the rest of the country, where we have many, many victims. I am sure every member of this parliament would have heard from really distressed members of their local communities, particularly in the lead-up to the Christmas, who were all of a sudden contacted and told that, in some cases, they had massive debts. They were not aware of these debts and questioned them but, all of a sudden, they were being forced to repay them. My office has been no difference, and we have heard from many, many local residents.

At first, Centrelink was forcing clients into a repayment scheme before having their review done to see if they even owed the money to begin with. The minister has, belatedly and finally, changed this so that clients do not have to enter a repayment scheme until after they have had a review of their debt. It has been extremely stressful for clients. They were given two choices: they could have their payments cut or reduced with repayments for a debt that they most likely do not even own.

Many of my local constituents received letters just before Christmas. They had been planning and had set aside money for their children or grandchildren's presents and all of a sudden they were being hit with these debt notices. There were constituents who waited for hours trying to get hold of Centrelink to speak to someone about their debt, only to be told that they had to put through a review online. Many of these constituents are elderly clients who do not have the internet at home. When visiting local Centrelink offices they were given the same referral to the online system—which I guess is just one step up from the social media contacts that Centrelink was sending out, just referring people to Lifeline because they knew the impact it was having.

These are real people, and they have been really badly affected as a result of this government. There are many examples of this. Ashley, who lives in Enfield in my electorate, said, 'In my discussion with Centrelink, I felt bullied and under considerable duress to agree to the payment plan even though I maintained Centrelink's calculations are not correct.' That is just one example. It is not good enough. Labor will continue to fight for these residents.