Tasmanian Liberal Senator Eric Abetz says concerns he raised about Centrelink’s debt recovery program after realising he had an affected relative have now been allayed.
Centrelink staff have been instructed to pursue debts they know are incorrect under the Turnbull government’s controversial debt clawback system, a whistleblower claims.
Centrelink's debt recovery system will be scrutinised by a Senate inquiry, as Liberal MPs join Labor and social services groups in complaining about the automated welfare crackdown.
PAYWALL
A second Tasmanian Liberal senator has criticised Centrelink’s debt recovery system, urging his colleagues to avoid “another talkfest” and “get the problems fixed”.
The recently elected Liberal senator Jonathon Duniam has written to the human services minister, Alan Tudge, to express concerns about the troubled system.
He told Guardian Australia he had conveyed concerns raised with his office to Tudge and sought an urgent solution.
Centrelink's robo-debt recovery scheme is set to be expanded this year despite calls for an inquiry into the system.
Pensioners, families and the disabled will be among those targeted as the Government attempts to claw back billions in overpaid welfare to help repair the budget.
New figures released in the midyear budget update papers show the Government expects to regain an extra $2.2 billion from parents, pensioners and people on disability support, Fairfax media reports.
Malcolm Turnbull has dismissed Labor’s calls for a senate inquiry into the government’s automated Centrelink debt recovery program, saying he believes the agency has been acting appropriately.
PAYWALL
A handful of protesters have parked themselves in front of Liberal MP Alan Tudge's office, protesting the Centrelink #notmydebt saga with an abundance of chants and issuing his office with a "debt notice" of $300 million.
The group played mock Centrelink hold music, and chanted "Hey Tudge, we won't budge" before being moved on by police at 2:35pm.
One Nation senator Brian Burston has labelled Centrelink's contentious debt-recovery system "malicious and bordering on the criminal", adding Pauline Hanson's party to the chorus of concern surrounding the automated clawback.
Council on the Ageing to seek assurances older Australians won’t be unfairfly targeted by plan to use system to shave $1bn from aged pension budget.
Cornered. The federal government has cornered our most vulnerable people.
The cascade of harm from the Centrelink automated debt notifications debacle now includes providing too little legal help for those who need it most. And the little offered them now will disappear in July.
