Malarndirri McCarthy (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

This government's robodebt scheme is a travesty and a tragedy. The government knew the damage that this illegal scheme was doing to the people. The Prime Minister was forced into an apology and now there has been a last-minute pre-trial admission conceding that the government owes robodebt victims their money back, plus compensation. This is likely to total more than $1 billion that the government owes victims of the robodebt scheme. A settlement for approximately 400,000 class action members is both the most costly and involves the most people of any settlement by an Australian government. But it is some form of justice for victims, who have been treated terribly by the Morrison government.

For years the Morrison government has been in denial about robodebt's fairness and legality, even after the defective robodebt system had wreaked a trail of carnage across the nation, resulting in anxiety, poverty and even suicides. This dodgy scheme is more than what Christian Porter now calls 'legally insufficient'. It has cost countless Australians their livelihoods and in some cases their lives. It's only after the prospect of coalition ministers such as former Minister for Human Services Alan Tudge having to take the witness stand to answer questions about what they knew that the government has agreed to fairly pay back victims.

There are so many dirty hands involved in this dodgy scheme. Scott Morrison, once the social services minister and then the Treasurer, was a key architect of robodebt. Christian Porter, who became social services minister, was also involved, and Mr Robert. This government, the minister and this Prime Minister will not even answer the most basic questions about how this illegal robodebt scheme was designed and implemented. The minister has dodged and ducked and thrown up flimsy claims of public interest immunity time after time after time and has just plain refused to answer questions about robodebt. The Prime Minister needs to step up and answer the questions about how robodebt came into being and when the government was first made aware that what they were doing was actually illegal. He needs to answer the question about exactly how much this botched scheme cost the country. And he needs to make it very clear what they knew, and when, about the devastating impact that the robodebt scheme was having on individuals and about the reports that were received about threats of self-harm.

What is it about robodebt's origins that the government does not want anyone to know?

Were they told it was illegal and ignored the advice? Or did they not check its legality at all before unleashing it on an unsuspecting public? How much extra in taxpayers' money has the Morrison government wasted fighting this unwinnable case? Only a royal commission into robodebt will give the public the answers they deserve, and only a royal commission will give the families of those who took their own lives after falling victim to robodebt some answers. This government has not even bothered to find out how many people have threatened self-harm or how many victims of robodebt have tragically taken their own lives. You cannot refund the debt. The government must immediately allow such an independent inquiry into the robodebt scandal.

Sunlight on how these hidden decisions were made is vital. It's needed to ensure the Australian public is never again exposed to whatever has gone horribly wrong here. It is extremely offensive to the Australian public that no-one in this government is taking any responsibility for this $1.2 billion scam on the Australian people. Every day that no minister is stood down over this theft from the public is another argument for a robodebt royal commission as the only route to accountability. In the meantime the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, must explain what the consequences will be for ministers for their involvement in the single greatest social security scandal in this nation's history and the subsequent cover-up.

Question agreed to.