The chief bureaucrat responsible for unleashing Robodebt has under questioning from Labor Senators denied knowing about a risk warning from her own Department.

Former Human Services secretary Kathryn Campbell, one of Scott Morrison’s inner circle, today issued a belated apology for the scheme on the eve of court action and after staunchly defending it for 1,851 days.

Ms Campbell, who is now Department of Social Services secretary, could not say what action her department took after an internal 2015 risk assessment document raised the alarm about unleashing Robodebt “without manual oversight”.

What is becoming patently clear is nothing was going to stop Ms Campbell or Scott Morrison from unleashing this revenue-raising scheme on the unsuspecting Australian public.

The Senate’s Robodebt inquiry also revealed the Government has repaid less than a third of the $721m it has admitted was illegally taken from Australians.

Ms Campbell and Robodebt Minister Stuart Robert continue to hide behind a public interest immunity rather than answer questions from the Senate about the nefarious origins of Robodebt.

The only way the public will get the answers it deserves about the origins of this mess, and the only way we can avoid it being repeated, is a Royal Commission into Robodebt.

FRIDAY, 31 JULY 2020

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