Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Government Services. What did the royal commission find were the real consequences of the robodebt scheme?

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

SHORTEN (—) (): I thank the member for McEwen for his question. On Monday the member for Cook gave a speech exonerating himself, as the real victim of the robodebt scandal. The Leader of the Opposition has actually called it a strong defence. For the information of the parliament: it was 2,114 words. While he did use 22 words to acknowledge the impact on individuals and families, he reserved the remaining 2,092 for himself. But I'm not going to focus on the fact that for every word he spent on a victim he kept 100 for himself.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Cook will cease interjecting.

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

The member for Cook used a phrase. He regretted the 'unintended consequences'. In fact, he used the phrase 'unintended consequences' not once but five times. The member for Cook is the master of the English language. 'Unintended consequences' has a clear implication: it was just an accident; unintended; too bad, so sad. It implies that the consequences of robodebt could not have been predicted, could not have been foreseen. In doing so, he attacks the whole royal commission's core findings. The royal commission showed that robodebt, in its design, in its rollout—the consequences were completely foreseeable. The war on the poor that the coalition launched during robodebt was entirely predictable.

Of course, the statement got even more interesting—and I had to watch the video twice—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Cook will cease interjecting.

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

I had to watch the video twice. The member for Cook actually says—and I thought it was a misprint in the transcript—'I stopped robodebt.' The sheer chutzpah! The trademark shamelessness! The man most known in Australia for the sprint to claim credit for everybody's actions, including the courage of the victims. The Leader of the Opposition, more alarmingly, says that the member for Cook's slippery language excusing himself was a strong defence.

What I have to say to the member for Cook is: how dare you take the credit for stopping robodebt, when you started robodebt! How dare you minimise the courage of the victims! How dare you take the credit of the advocates and all those who spoke against it! I say to the coalition: the member for Cook leaves you in an untenable position. You broke the law and you hurt people. You broke the law and wasted taxpayers' money. You broke the law and continue to defend the indefensible. You have a simple choice: cut him loose or he will damage the whole Liberal herd. Cut him loose now. The Leader of the Opposition must make that decision now or own robodebt for as long as he's there.