Grayndler
Friday, 6th January 2017
The Human Face Of Centrelink Debt Debacle
Over the Christmas and New Year period I have been inundated with calls from constituents distressed because they have been issued debt notices and threats of debt recovery action for debts that they never incurred.
Thousands of people with disability, students, pensioners and people recovering from life threatening illnesses are being told by the Turnbull Government that the onus is on them to prove that they have not acted fraudulently.
These people represent the human cost of the Government’s actions.
They deserve to be treated with dignity, which is why Labor’s Shadow Minister Linda Burney has today called for the Commonwealth Auditor General to investigate this fiasco.
Today Paul Shetler, the handpicked head of Malcolm Turnbull’s own digital transformation office has described this bungle as “cataclysmic”.
He has rightly stated that any commercial entity that that was sending incorrect debt notices to 20 per cent of its customers would go out of business.
This Government is treating vulnerable people with no respect.
Whenever this Government feels it is losing control of the agenda, it makes a huge show of targeting people on welfare, for purely political purposes.
In this case they are sending threatening letters to people who have done nothing wrong and whose only crime is that they have at some point received welfare benefits.
Of course we should require people who have been overpaid to repay their debts but there is never any excuse for politicians exploiting vulnerable people for political gain.
It is time for the Prime Minister to intervene and make sure that Australians are treated fairly and respectfully by Centrelink and not denigrated by his Government.
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Electorate Office
334a Marrickville Rd
Marrickville NSW 2204
Phone: 02 9564 3588
Parliament House Office
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Phone: 02 6277 7700
Electorate Office
334a Marrickville Rd
Marrickville NSW 2204
Phone: 02 9564 3588
Parliament House Office
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Phone: 02 6277 7700
Phone: (02) 9564 3588
Fax: (02) 9564 1734
Email: A.Albanese.MP@aph.gov.au
We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which our offices stand and we pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge the sorrow of the Stolen Generations and the impacts of colonisation on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We also recognise the resilience, strength and pride of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Authorised by Anthony Albanese. 334a Marrickville Rd, Marrickville NSW 2204.