MEDIA RELEASE

Just like Government Services Minister Stuart Robert, Attorney-General Christian Porter today refused to apologise to the Australian public for stealing $721 million from them.

Scott Morrison - then-Treasurer - was a key architect of Robodebt, Mr Porter was Social Services Minister at the time this monster was brought to life and Mr Robert has simply been spinning like a dervish about it for a year.

Now that they have been caught redhanded, how hard is it for these people to say sorry?

Christian Porter said the government ‘zeroed’ the debts as soon as they found out it was illegal but the reality is this mob has had to be dragged kicking and screaming to this point.

When Mr Robert put the emergency brakes on the scheme he said it was only “a refinement” affecting a “small cohort”.

This dodgy scheme is more than “legally insufficient” as Mr Porter put it. It has cost countless Australians their livelihoods and in some cases their lives.

Mr Porter said on the ABC: “At the moment those moneys have been refunded. There will be an argument as to whether or not we undertake to try and recoup any debts using other methodologies.”

It is now up to him to clarify whether - once these hundreds of thousands of Robodebt victims have been repaid - the Government might hound and harass them again.

The Morrison Government must account to the families who lost adult children to suicide because of Robodebt, and for the various other harms, stresses and inconveniences caused.

The Ministers involved should immediately front the Australian public and apologise to the multitude of their victims who have suffered so much because of this scandal.