Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

With only five minutes left to go, I will not be able to give a particularly detailed speech, but there are a few aspects of this that I would like to touch on, because time is limited. I know Senator Polley was keen to speak. She has waived her time, and I think it is worth pointing out on behalf of her and other Tasmanian senators that this inquiry reveals some particular issues that applied in Tasmania as a state with particular characteristics where this robodebt system impacted particularly deeply.

Participating in this inquiry was an incredibly moving experience, and I think any fair observer would have to say that this whole Centrelink robodebt debacle has been a particularly shameful episode in the life of the Turnbull government and a shameful episode in Australian public policy more generally. Sitting through committee hearings and listening to the personal stories of the many thousands of Australians who were affected by this robodebt debacle was incredibly distressing. It was incredibly distressing to listen to the experience that these people had had. They are good, honest Australian people who have been made to feel ashamed, humiliated, harassed by the department and by debt collectors and, in many cases of not having actually done anything wrong, accused of owing debts to Centrelink which they did not owe—in some cases tens of thousands of dollars more than they actually owed and in many cases not owing a debt whatsoever but put through the wringer by this government in its determination to drive savings from people who actually did not owe a debt.

Every person who was involved in this process should be ashamed of themselves for setting up the process the way that they did and for maniacally pursuing it despite the problems that were shown to exist. To this day we have seen no remorse whatsoever from the Department of Human Services, which oversaw this program, or their minister, Minister Tudge. Throughout this inquiry we repeatedly invited departmental witnesses to concede that there were errors in the system that they were rolling out, but they repeatedly denied that there were errors and came up with all sorts of language to explain themselves. Rather than people getting debt notices, they were getting 'clarification letters'. Rather than errors being made, there were 'clarifications that were required'. The departmental secretary repeatedly came to hearings and laid the blame for the problems with this system with Centrelink recipients for not engaging with the process despite the fact that her own department has ridiculous waiting times for people who try to get assistance from Centrelink. The blame was always laid squarely at the feet of Centrelink recipients.

I turn to the minister. Of course, infamously it was revealed that he had leaked personal information of numerous recipients to media outlets in an effort to combat attention that was being drawn to his failures and the failed system. There was an Australian Federal Police investigation into his behaviour which did clear him, but, whether his behaviour was legal or not legal, there is no question that his behaviour and that of his office in releasing personal information of people to the media was highly unethical.

The whole way through this program, rather than seeing any remorse or apologies from ministers who were involved, again the blame was always laid at Centrelink recipients, some of the most vulnerable people in the community, and it was always justified by the savings that were being generated. I said yesterday in another context that this government does not know the value of human life. It knows the cost of everything and the value of nothing, and this is another classic example where the bottom line was put above the needs of hardworking, honest Australians who were unfairly accused of owing debts and then pursued relentlessly by the department and by debt collectors.

Rather than this government owning up to mistakes and accepting responsibility, the fact that they have chosen to put in a dissenting report here demonstrates that, to this day, there is no acknowledgement from the government that they have done anything wrong. I do not have time to go through the litany of failures that existed and that were shown up by this inquiry, but I do commend the report to all senators to read. I honestly do hope that government ministers read this report and take on board the recommendations. Most importantly, this system should be halted immediately. There is a plan to expand it which will affect aged pensioners greatly. The government should halt immediately and reconsider.

Debate interrupted.