Two found corrupt over robodebt but Morrison cleared
Two people involved in the former coalition government’s illegal direct debit scheme have been found to be involved in corruption.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission’s investigation on Wednesday found that two of the six people were referred to him for corruption-related investigation, while the remaining four were cleared.
Among those exonerated was former Liberal prime minister Scott Morrison, who introduced the scheme while serving as social services minister.
The watchdog found former business integrity ministry director general Mark Withnail engaged in corrupt conduct by deliberately misleading the Department of Social Services during the preparation of his cabinet presentation in 2015.
It also found that the department’s deputy secretary, Serena Wilson, had engaged in corrupt conduct by misleading the Commonwealth Ombudsman during an investigation in 2017.
Mr Morrison has not been found to be corrupt; Its failure to implement bureaucratic recommendations was misleading, attributed to the shortcomings of federal departments.
The corruption watchdog did not make recommendations in its final report, which followed the royal commission’s guidance on the robodebt scheme.
The watchdog initially chose not to investigate the referrals before the controversial decision was overturned.
The decision to overrule the order came after National Anti-Corruption Commission Inspector Gail Furness found that the commission’s chairman, Paul Brereton, had committed misconduct because he was linked to one of the six officials but did not sufficiently recuse himself from the decisions.
Between 2016 and 2019, the former coalition government’s robo-debt scheme saved more than $750 million from nearly 400,000 people.
Many welfare recipients were falsely accused of being indebted to the government, and the program was linked to many suicides.
The Albanian government has promised to release a sealed portion of the robodebt royal commission’s final report following the conclusion of the investigation.
“The illegal direct debit scheme was a betrayal of ordinary Australians and has led to human tragedy and untold misery,” Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said.
“The royal commission was clear in its findings and we must work to ensure this never happens again.”
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