David Smith (Bean, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In this debate, I would like to raise a few matters that relate to my electorate of Bean. Most items are of much pride but one, unfortunately, is of deep disappointment to many in my electorate. The first issue, a grievance, if you will, is out of the robodebt debacle. In September last year, I spoke in a matter of public importance debate in the House on the robodebt scheme and the catastrophic stress and anxiety that it was causing many of my constituents, as it did around the country. I read correspondence from a member of my local community. To repeat, that correspondence noted:

… our intellectually disabled daughter is undergoing a review of past income by Centrelink through the robodebt catastrophe. She is 28 years old and resides with us, her parents. She may owe money to Centrelink, but a letter came out of the blue to her, chasing debt back to 2015, without any prior notice or review of her earnings by Centrelink.

There have been many such cases across Bean, and the frustration, the stress and the anxiety were real.

But, for months, the Morrison government kept denying that its pet scheme was illegal or that it was doing harm. We had the member for Barker, during this debate in September, calling Labor's prosecution of the robodebt issue, just a 'robo-scare', saying that these harassment letters were all about integrity; that calling the Liberal government mean and nasty about this system was trite; and that the robodebt letters were just a simple request for information. Then we saw the member for Bowman get up and put forward another interesting line of logic—that it was very much okay to 'robo-target' sensitive Australians like those with disabilities, because they receive payments by electronic means.

This type of tripe continued for months. We had the member for Fadden denying the stand-over scheme was unfair, inaccurate or illegal, despite the settling of cases, and we've seen the member for Cook batting away questions on the legality of robodebt, a scheme cooked up on his watch. It beggars belief that this government was not advised of the illegality at the heart of this heartless scheme. After all of this out-of-touch spin and damage, the scheme was found to be illegal, with the government finally agreeing to zeroing the debts. Another way of putting it is that 474,000 Australians will be refunded over $700 million of robodebt that they had been illegally hounded for. But this doesn't help families who were devastated and damaged by this unfair process and in some cases lost loved ones.

As others have said, the coalition had to be dragged kicking and screaming to this point. Those coalition members that worked so hard in parliament to defend the scheme and attack Labor should take the next opportunity to put their hand up and say, 'I was wrong and I am sorry,' to half a million Australians and their families. And those ministers who delivered this debacle should do the right thing and not only apologise to my constituents in Bean who were caught up in this mess but also take responsibility for their gross failures and resign.

The coronavirus pandemic has put enormous strain on so many local businesses, local families, local not-for-profits and many of our key government services. But it has also shone a light on some of the great people and businesses in our local community. In that context I want to give a shout-out to the Canberra Southern Cross Club and to Vinnies Canberra-Goulburn archdiocese for their work in preparing and supplying meals and support to those workers and families who need it during this tough time. The Canberra Southern Cross Club established a job-saver program to support their staff on international visas that were ineligible for JobKeeper assistance. The program has meant that the club have used their kitchens that have otherwise been quiet to increase their support to Vinnies night patrol vans, providing over 500 meals per week to assist people doing it tough in Canberra. As Vinnies themselves noted: 'During this difficult period, it's great to see an outcome that supports both those people employed at the club as well as the people who turn to Vinnies for help every day.' Well done and thank you to the team at the Canberra Southern Cross Club. My family and I ourselves look forward to getting back to one of your venues soon for a meal.

The coronavirus pandemic has reminded all of us in our community just how important every worker is to our community, whether that be those that staff the checkout and stack the shelves at a supermarket, early childhood educators, waste management workers, farmers, cleaners or our teachers. They've all been essential to collective efforts to militate against the spread of the coronavirus. However, I do want to give a special mention to our frontline health workers—our nurses, doctors, and allied health professionals. And I particularly congratulate our local members in Bean on receiving nursing and midwifery excellence awards. These awards recognise and acknowledge the exceptional contribution that nurses and midwives make to the lives of the clients they serve within the broader community and to their professions. The recipients in Bean were Heather Needham for excellence in leadership; Mercy Lukose, for excellence in management; and Nikki Johnston, for excellence in quality improvement and research practice. I would also like to congratulate Lucy Kenny, from Capital Chemist Calwell, for being named the pharmacy intern of the year, and recognise the work of all in community pharmacy across the region. It is great to see these local workers recognised for the extraordinary work that they do, particularly under the added pressures and challenges of COVID-19. On behalf of my constituents, the community, and my federal parliamentary colleagues, congratulations and thank you once again.

While there are some controversial names in the Queen's Birthday Honours list this year, there are plenty of good stories about the amazing differences made in our communities by members of the Bean electorate. I congratulate the following Bean residents who have been recognised for their contribution to our community across a diverse range of endeavours, each grounded in the common good, from working with veterans, road safety and medicine to service to the Indian community of the ACT, service to people with an intellectual disability, and exceptional service in public, emergency and military service. I wish to congratulate Mr Eric Chalmers, Mr Peter Eveille, Dr Paul Smith, Mr Laki Prasad, Ms Anne Walsh, Deborah Lee McGuire, Mr Christopher Zeitlhofer, Air Commodore Andrew Heap, Group Captain Jane Wheaten, Lieutenant Colonel James Bryant, Corporal Tobias O'Neill, Colonel Mark Welburn, Group Captain Paul Carpenter, and Chief Petty Officer Noel Christoffel. I congratulate you all on your service and look forward to catching up with you after the parliament rises.

Since this parliament last fully met, there have been births, anniversaries, special events and deaths that have not been able to marked, celebrated or shared in the normal way. It's been more difficult to tell the stories of those who make our communities what they are. It is particularly devastating in relation to those that we have loved. One such passing was that of Don Dwyer, a particular friend to this House and this parliament. He was a Queenslander, an adopted Canberran, an Irish-Australian, a true believer, a Labor historian, a journalist, a friend and helper to generations of Laborites across the country, a life member of the Australian Labor Party and of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, actively involved in the Woden branch and the old Curtin branch here in Canberra, and someone who helped in campaigns and federal offices for decades in both the ACT and Queensland. Don provided me my first opportunity to contribute to some parliamentary speeches almost two decades ago, just as he provided opportunities and support to many up-and-comers. He continued to provide helpful research to MPs' officers over the last couple of years. He was a key to the winning teams of the old national conference and Labor history trivia nights. Don always asked after my mum and dad—Queenslanders all—just as he always showed interest in those around him. He was never short of a good yarn from his amazing long involvement across the Labor movement. We are much poorer for his passing.