Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Deanna Amato from Melbourne was issued with a robodebt and penalties of $3,215.18. The Federal Court declared that the robodebt notice was not lawfully issued. Does the Prime Minister still seriously maintain, despite a $1.2 billion landmark settlement, that the government did nothing wrong?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I may ask the minister to add, if necessary to answer this question. The government took the decision that the process of income averaging was not something that should continue to be followed by the government. That is the practice that was employed by those opposite when they were in government, before 2013.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There seems to be confusion amongst the members of the opposition on this issue. The action that the government has taken, and the decision that has been made, relates only to the issue of income averaging being used for the purpose of raising a debt. There has been no advice, none whatsoever, relating to the use of technology to determine the creation of a debt. This was something that was also pursued by the member for McMahon when he was the minister, and he hailed it. Many others opposite used the exact same processes.

The government have also used technology to ensure that we meet our responsibilities that our welfare system—as I noted in the House earlier this week, some $200 billion of taxpayers money is rightly provided to support Australians who need it, particularly in a year like this, but we want to ensure, as taxpayers would expect, that that important support gets to those who need it in accordance with the rules that are set. So there is no issue, as those opposite seem to suggest, regarding the use of technology for the purpose of managing the issues of debts owed to the Commonwealth. That is a falsehood. It's not true.

The only issue that is relevant here is the issue of income averaging as the sole or primary basis for which to raise a debt. It is the same practice followed by the Labor Party. It was a practice followed by this government. We have ceased doing that. The Labor Party happily kept doing it for years and years and years and years. We put an end to that practice.

Mr Dreyfus interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Isaacs will leave under 94(a).

The member for Isaacs then left the chamber.