Scott Morrison spotted at home after returning from European getaway

The former prime minister has refused to answer questions after he was spotted home from his European holiday.

Scott Morrison has returned home from his lengthy European summer vacation, being spotted publicly for the first time just hours after the robodebt royal commission claimed its first high-profile scalp.

The former prime minister was asked by a Nine reporter outside his family home in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire if he enjoyed his holiday and had any immediate plans to resign.

“You’re on my property,” he flatly replied.

Mr Morrison has been contacted for comment.

#EXCLUSIVE: Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been seen for the first time since the Robodebt royal commission report was handed down. @MaggieRaworth#9News

READ MORE: https://t.co/L4d3rO1MtLpic.twitter.com/X1saSEvYeq

— 9News Australia (@9NewsAUS) July 24, 2023

It is the first time the ex-Liberal leader has been seen publicly since the royal commission’s 900-page report found the “cruel and crude” scheme was “devised without regard to the social security law”.

Mr Morrison was the social services minister who took to cabinet the policy proposal that would become the robodebt scheme.

Commissioner Catherine Holmes, a former chief justice of the Queensland Supreme Court, found Mr Morrison “allowed cabinet to be misled” and “failed to meet his ministerial responsibility” to ensure the program was lawful.

In a more than 1200-word statement, Mr Morrison rejected the findings completely.

“They are wrong, unsubstantiated and contradicted by clear documentary evidence presented to the commission,” he said.

“It is unfortunate that these findings fail to acknowledge the proper functioning of government and cabinet processes in the face of not only my evidence as a former prime minister, and cabinet minister for almost nine years, but also the evidence of other cabinet ministers.”

Scott Morrison has rejected the royal commissioner’s findings. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Speaking on Tuesday morning, Government Services Minister Bill Shorten accused the former prime minister of being in denial.

“It was a government of law breakers, the previous Coalition government. They thought they would get away with treating people receiving the social security safety net as second-class Australians,” he said.

“I don’t know what Mr Morrison can say. He’s obviously in complete denial about everything. That’s his prerogative. But the royal commission is gripping reading and there was a lot of evidence that seems to contradict Mr Morrison’s version of events.”

Speculation over Mr Morrison’s political future has been rife, with some moderate Liberal MPs expecting their former leader to resign by the end of the year.

Opposition industrial relations spokeswoman Michaelia Cash refused to be drawn when asked on Tuesday whether her old boss should resign when parliament returns next week.

Government Services Minister Bill Shorten has accused Mr Morrison of being in denial. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“I have no further comment on it,” she told ABC Radio National on Tuesday morning.

Mr Morrison’s return comes as senior public servant Kathryn Campbell resigned from her $900,000-a-year job following the fallout of Ms Holmes’ report.

Ms Campbell, who oversaw the rollout of the illegal income averaging scheme as secretary of the Department of Human Services, quit her job with the Department of Defence as an adviser on the AUKUS security pact.

“Defence can confirm it has accepted Ms Kathryn Campbell’s resignation from the Department with effect from Friday 21 July 2023,” a spokesman said.

Ms Campbell was suspended from her high-ranking role just three days after the commission handed down its findings.

Originally published as Scott Morrison spotted at home after returning from European getaway