Sign Up
..... Connect Australia with the world.
Categories

Posted: 2023-03-03 00:42:29

Government Services Minister Bill Shorten has criticised former Coalition minister Stuart Robert after he admitted holding deep doubts about the Robodebt scheme while publicly endorsing it.

Mr Robert on Thursday told the Robodebt royal commission that he had "personal misgivings" about the scheme, but was obliged to publicly defend it as a "dutiful cabinet minister".

He conceded that meant he had made false public comments.  

Speaking on Friday, Mr Shorten told the ABC that "cabinet solidarity" doesn't grant ministers permission to mislead the Australian public. 

"I do not believe that the doctrine of cabinet solidarity extends to giving permission for people, for ministers, to give false statements about the lawfulness of their actions or to misrepresent facts," he said.

The royal commission is holding a final block of hearings in Brisbane into the Robodebt scheme, which used income-averaging, tax and Centrelink data to calculate social security debts.

Mr Robert became the minister overseeing the years-old program in 2019.

Stuart Robert festures with his hand.
Stuart Robert at the Robodebt royal commission. (ABC News)

He told the inquiry he was "holding [the] government line" in all media interviews — including one on ABC's 7.30 — despite having "personal misgivings" about Robodebt's calculation method.

He told the royal commission he was "bound by cabinet solidarity" to defend the program in public, despite holding misgivings.

“As a dutiful cabinet minister, ma’am, that’s what we do,” Mr Robert told Commissioner Catherine Holmes SC.

To that, the commissioner replied: “Misrepresent things to the Australian public?”

The former minister said he wouldn't "put it that way".

View More
  • 0 Comment(s)
Captcha Challenge
Reload Image
Type in the verification code above