Morrison, Payne will appear before robo-debt royal commission

Scott Morrison and Marise Payne will be forced to appear before the robo-debt royal commission in the next two weeks of hearings by the inquiry.

A source close to the commission, who asked to remain anonymous to able to speak freely, said the former prime minister and former human services minister will be compelled to appear.

Scott Morrison and Marise Payne in 2018.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

The first two weeks of hearings heard evidence from a slew of public servants about the scheme, which was launched in 2015 to claw back $750 million in payments from about 400,000 Centrelink recipients, and which was found in 2019 to be illegal.

The government settled a class action lawsuit in 2020 and paid more than a billion dollars in compensation.

The second block of hearings will begin on Monday, December 5 and this masthead has confirmed that Morrison, a former social services minister and Payne, a former human services minister, will appear in the second two-week block of hearings to provide evidence.

Until now, appearances by the former prime minister and other former ministers had been foreshadowed, but not confirmed.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus last week agreed to foot the legal costs for Morrison, as well as Payne and former ministers Alan Tudge, Michael Keenan, Stuart Robert and Christian Porter, if they were called to appear before the hearings.

Morrison is set to be formally censured by the House of Representatives on Wednesday over his decision to secretly swear himself in to administer five additional ministerial portfolios during his time in office.

Being called to appear before the robo-debt royal commission is a further blow to Morrison, who has faced calls to quit parliament immediately in a recent book by a columnist for this masthead, Niki Savva.

It is rare, but not without precedent, for a former prime minister to appear before such a high-powered inquiry.

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd and former ministers Peter Garrett and Greg Combet appeared before the home insulation royal commission ordered by the former Abbott government.

Serena Wilson, a former Social Services department deputy secretary, provided evidence in the first fortnight of hearings to the commission that she felt “ashamed” at not having spoken up about the legal problems associated with the robo-debt scheme.

She said detailed legal advice was provided to the Department of Human Services, now called Services Australia, before the program was rolled out.

But she believed this advice was not passed on to Morrison because there was some “role confusion” between the two departments.

with Angus Thompson

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