Keith Pitt apologises to welfare recipients impacted by robodebt

After refusing to apologise for the robodebt scheme in a national TV interview in 2020 Hinkler’s MP has said sorry to victims following the royal commission’s bombshell report.

Hinkler MP Keith Pitt apologised for the impact of robodebt on welfare recipients.

Hinkler MP Keith Pitt has said sorry to the victims of the robodebt scheme three years after refusing to apologise on national television.

Mr Pitt refused to apologise to people in his electorate who were issued incorrect debt notices in a Sky News interview on May 30, 2020, one day after the then-Coalition government had agreed to repay 470,000 debts that were raised under the scheme.

“I won’t apologise for the fact that the government will continue to have oversight on what is our biggest single area of expenditure,” he said at the time.

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Following the Royal Commission’s report handed down on July 7, which found the use of income averaging by the robodebt scheme was “neither fair nor legal” and was linked to the suicides of at least two welfare recipients, Mr Pitt apologised on Tuesday for the program.

The report into robodebt handed down by Commissioner Catherine Holmes AC SC found the scheme was “neither fair nor legal” and was linked to the suicides of at least two welfare recipients targeted by the scheme.

“The comments I made in May 2020 were based on the advice provided to me at the time,” he said.

“It was not my portfolio and I was not in the cabinet at the time the program was initiated. Taxpayers should expect that any government program has a level of oversight to ensure that funds are used appropriately and that extends to Australia’s welfare system.

“The Royal Commission has identified a range of problems with the program and I’m sorry for the impact the program has had.”

Nationals party leader David Littleproud called for Scott Morrison to resign from parliament because he was found to have misled parliament and given “untrue” evidence to the royal commission.

Mr Pitt refused to follow Nationals party leader David Littleproud in calling for the resignation of Scott Morrison.

Mr Pitt did not echo Mr Littleproud’s views.

“Scott’s future in the parliament is a matter for him, the people of Cook and the Liberal Party,” Mr Pitt said.

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“The people of my electorate are struggling to make ends meet and keep a roof over their head. They want Anthony Albanese and Federal Labor to focus on addressing the cost of living, not fantasising about the timing of a possible by-election in Cook.”