Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's funny, isn't it? We heard an apology today in the House from the Prime Minister—an apology of sorts, I would call it—on this robodebt scheme, but it seems that members opposite didn't quite get the memo, because they don't really seem very sorry. They still seem particularly defiant and particularly proud of what they did under this scheme. There's not even a sprinkle of 'sorry' from senators opposite. Maybe that's because they weren't communicated with in regard to this apology today, but I believe that it's because they aren't apologetic at all. This decision, brought about by court action against the government, is a win for 470,000 vulnerable Australians who will be repaid what was thought to be $721 million but which now looks like it will be upwards of a billion dollars. Talk about economic management from the government! This was a dodgy scheme launched by Scott Morrison when he was Treasurer. Minister Stuart Robert, Minister Ruston and Minister Porter all had a hand in the scheme as well, and they should apologise too.

Robodebt relied on ATO income averaging data to issue debt notices to people who were in a weaker position to defend themselves when they received those letters. It's interesting to hear members opposite talk about someone picking up the phone and calling Centrelink and everything will be fine. If you've ever had to stand in the line at Centrelink or call Centrelink, you will be very aware that this government has put staffing caps into Centrelink and that a lot of labour hire jobs have been used to fill the gaps. The call wait times just keep going up and up. We've heard in estimates over many years that not only did they issue this robodebt scheme but they also made it harder to get help from Centrelink when people needed it.

I want to speak today about the effect this scheme had on North Queensland, because we do know that, in Townsville, debt notices were being issued by this government in the aftermath of the 2019 floods, despite assurances that debt collection was not being pursued.

I want to put on record my thanks and appreciation to the Townsville Community Legal Service, particularly the principal solicitor there, Michael Murray. It was about a year ago that I travelled to Townsville and met with Michael and his team, who were some of the first people to identify debt notices being sent through to Townsville residents in the aftermath of the floods. And maybe it was that issue that really personalised this terrible, terrible scheme for many people in the community. There's something about floods that has a unique impact on people when they're sent a debt notice where the onus of proof has been reversed and they are the ones who have been told that they need to prove that they do not owe a debt, to go and get payslips for the last five years; and go and find information. People in Townsville were being sent these notices even after the floods had destroyed their homes and destroyed their records. How were these people supposed to prove that they didn't owe a debt to the government under those circumstances?

Even when presented with this evidence in this chamber, Minister Ruston continued to deny that debt collection was being enforced in Townsville, that robodebt was taking place in Townsville after the floods. Stuart Robert also claimed that this was a false rumour. Well, this is the same minister who falsely blamed the shutdown of the myGov website on a cyberattack, so we'll take his word with a grain of salt.

I would like to see an apology from the minister for social services and an apology directly to those residents in Townsville who received debt notices under the robodebt scheme in the aftermath of the floods that was denied in this chamber when we knew that it was true, when those residents knew it was true. I also want to see this government do more than give an apology: I want to see them come out and say that they will not introduce legislation to bring back robodebt. That would be a massive slap in the face for hundreds of thousands of people who have already been targeted by this scheme.

Question agreed to.