Robodebt inquiry: Scott Morrison didn’t ask about scheme’s legality because of ‘faith’ in department
Scott Morrison has disputed that public servants felt pressure not to inform him of legal risks about the robodebt scheme, telling a royal commission they had an “obligation and duty” to warn ministers of problems and it was “distressing” they never did.
He was questioned about a February 2015 brief that outlined the robodebt plan to him, alongside other welfare compliance measures. After Morrison quoted from the Social Security Act and offered his “plain English” reading, the commissioner Catherine Holmes noted his close interest in the legislation: “Why didn’t you want to know how it was that legislative change wouldn’t be required?”He said he “would never have conceived that had there had been legal advice suggesting it was unlawful, it had never entered my imagination that would not be raised with ministers”.
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