6 January 2017
SMH
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has said the government makes "no apology" for pursuing people's debts as it continues to fend off anger surrounding Centrelink's troubled $4.5 billion debt recovery mission.
Mr Joyce - the most senior government figure to weigh into the furore so far - said that social security recipients who owe the government "are not criminals" but need to settle the debts in the interest of taxpayers.
"I make no apology for making sure that those who didn't need it, who got it, pay the money back," the Nationals leader told ABC. "We make no apology for the fact that we are trying to make sure we are more efficient, have a wider grasp of those who might have received payments in error."
Source link to full item: