Susie O’Brien: Teflon Scott should be deeply ashamed by the royal commission’s findings

The former prime minister oversaw the deadly robodebt scheme — the fact he remains in parliament sends the message that welfare recipients don’t matter.

Lame duck MP Scott Morrison should resign for lying to a royal commission, misleading parliament and robo-scaring vulnerable people into taking their own lives.

If the Opposition is genuinely sorry for the fiasco which led to more than 400,000 people being sent false debt notices, then Coalition leader Peter Dutton must shame Morrison into stepping down immediately.

The former prime minister – and current political laughing stock – oversaw the deadly scheme. He was found by a royal commission to have “allowed cabinet to be misled”.

Morrison also lied to the royal commission about lying.

Former prime minister Scott Morrison should resign. Picture: AFP

This is not the calibre of person we want in federal parliament drawing a salary of more than $200,000 and speaking on behalf of us all. Hell, I wouldn’t trust Morrison to feed my dog, let alone represent me in parliament.

Commissioner Catherine Holmes found the scheme was a “crude and cruel mechanism” rolled out by the former government which made many vulnerable Australians feel like “criminals”.

She found the Coalition didn’t wind back the scheme, even when it knew the harm it was causing and it was clear it was “based upon a falsehood”.

Teflon Scott should be deeply ashamed by the royal commission’s findings, but he continues to brush it off, saying he “completely” rejects the adverse findings.

It doesn’t matter what he thinks: the commission’s damning conclusions make his own pathetic protestations totally irrelevant.

Morrison continues to brush off the royal commission’s findings. Picture: Martin Ollman

Morrison should not have the luxury of deciding the timing of his exit from parliament given that he was in charge of a scheme that claimed nearly $2b unlawfully from some of our most vulnerable people.

Liberal insiders say the only reason Morrison is still in parliament is because no-one has offered him a decent job. Yeah, imagine that.

Allowing Morrison, and other ministers and senior public servants in charge of the scheme to remain unscathed sends the message that welfare recipients don’t matter.

What’s the point of nearly 1000 pages of evidence if nothing changes and those implicated continue to get off Scott free?

Morrison hasn’t responded to the most recent calls for him to resign. He’s on holidays in Rome fiddling while his reputation burns.

Originally published as Susie O’Brien: Teflon Scott should be deeply ashamed by the royal commission’s findings