GOVERNMENT KNOWS ROBODEBT IS ILLEGAL

BILL SHORTEN MP.
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4 years ago
GOVERNMENT KNOWS ROBODEBT IS ILLEGAL
BILL SHORTEN MP
Every time a robodebt victim nearly has their day in court Stuart Robert’s Department wipes the debt.
 
The Government has hounded at least 160,000 Australians to pay back debts that never existed - but they will only really listen to the two people running cases with Legal Aid lawyers.
 
Clearly the Government does not want the legality of their bureaucratic standover racket tested in court.
 
Clearly they hope these last minute reprieves will help them convince the court that they have no case to answer and that the system corrects its errors.
 
And it is not just the two test cases run by Legal Aid that have got the emergency triage treatment. In hundreds of robodebt appeals to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal the Government accepts the claims with the result that judgement cannot be given on the legality of the scheme.
 
Little wonder, given many prominent lawyers including former AAT member Terry Carney have given the opinion the scheme amounts to illegal extortion.
 
I have consistently expressed my view that the legal foundations of robodebt - a reverse onus of proof on alleged debtors over often inaccurate figures - are very shaky indeed.
 
Judged on their actions, the Government feels the same way.
 
This strategy of deny, deny, deny - and then fold at the last minute - reveals that in their heart of hearts the Government fears robodebt is not just immoral but illegal.
 
Robodebt has already caused a trail of human suffering around this country - persecuted retirees, stressed out students, parents being chased for alleged debts of their dead children, a mother who attributes her son’s suicide to him being targeted by robodebt.
 
What is truly unconscionable is that Minister for Robodebt Stuart Robert refuses to call off the robodebt hounds while knowing it could be illegal and actively working to prevent it being found just that. In fact he is considering expanding the scheme to even more vulnerable categories of people. 
 
This is not in keeping with our traditional values of a fair go. It is unAustralian.
 
Labor supports legitimate debt recovery and data matching provided it has proper human oversight. Robodebt is none of these things.
 
The Government must either scrap robodebt or stop scheming to prevent it having its day in court.
 
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