Stuart Robert accepts ‘absolute responsibility’ for Robodebt scheme amid explosive evidence at Royal Commission
A former high-ranking Coalition minister has conceded he defended the controversial robodebt scheme despite deep suspicions, and then confirmation, it was unlawful.
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A former high-ranking Coalition minister has conceded he defended the controversial robodebt scheme despite deep suspicions then confirmation it was unlawful.
Former human services minister Stuart Robert, providing explosive evidence to the Royal Commission into Robodebt, also acknowledged the scheme was “flimsy” from the start.
While taking “absolute responsibility” for his part in the unlawful program Mr Robert also piled blame onto senior bureaucrats which he alleged had “unconscionably” hidden information from him at the time.
Mr Robert was the minister in-charge when the illegal scheme was scrapped in November 2019 and claimed he would have killed it sooner if the department had not withheld critical legal advice from him for months.
He also confirmed he had defended the robodebt scheme publicly despite harbouring strong suspicions it was flawed and used statistics given to him by the department even though he knew mathematically it had to be untrue.
“They were the numbers from the department… they were the accepted figures by the government to use, and as a dutiful cabinet Minister ma’am, that’s what we do,” Mr Robert said.
“Ministers are required to defend the government’s programs as part of Cabinet solidarity regardless if they agree with them or not.
“I have implemented many things that I passionately disagree with but I’m still required as a Minister to represent them and defend them.”
The unlawful Centrelink debt recovery scheme ran from 2015 to November 2019, illegally garnished $720m from 380,000 victims, and culminated with a $1.8bn settlement to hundreds of thousands of victims.
The Brisbane-based inquiry, helmed by Commissioner Catherine Holmes AC SC, is working to establish how the illegal program came to be and kept going despite numerous red flags suggesting it was unlawful.
Mr Robert’s testimony to the inquiry on Thursday diverged from evidence given by others including that of former Department of Human Services Secretary Professor Renee Leon two days earlier.
Prof Leon, on Tuesday, said after a meeting with Mr Robert in November 2019—days prior to the scheme being axed—the Minister indicated the government should “double down” on the program instead of abandoning it and apologising.
Mr Robert rejected this implication and declared it “farcical”.
In July 2019 Mr Robert asked bureaucrats to get him Solicitor-General legal advice on the robodebt program and told the inquiry he did not know that at this time prospective legal advice from the public services’ law firm indicating robodebt’s unlawfulness had existed since March.
He was sworn into the role in May 2019.
“The fact that (Australian Government Solicitor advice) was not given to me in writing is simply unconscionable,” Mr Robert said.
Department of Human Services former acting chief counsel Timothy Ffrench, at the inquiry last week, said he brought a copy of the AGS advice to the July meeting and “spoke to the minister plainly about the difficulties” outlined.
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