Opponents of the government's horrific Robodebt scheme have long been saying that it is arbitrary, cruel and driven by a reverse Robin Hood ideology - rob the poor to feed the rich.
Now claims by whistleblowers who have worked in the administration of Robodebts prove it.
Staff contracted from private agencies by Centrelink have spoken of an obsessive target driven structure where employees were pressured to conjure up debts at all costs - ignoring flaws in data, neglecting to ever inform debt recipients of the financial nightmare about to fall on them.
In the words of those tasked with dishing out the debts:
"It was very inhumane. It was all about the money, and we have to get those finalisations."
"It was all about the numbers. They would constantly say we are trying to adhere to the estimates that were provided to the Senate estimates hearing in relation to how many finalisations would be completed within a given period for the sake of trying to recoup revenue. That's what determined how many finalisations each division needed to achieve. That's all that mattered, meeting those benchmarks. It was toxic."
"I know a lot of compliance officers would just let the phone ring one or two times and hang up. Some even would say they made (the phone calls) but they don't. You don't want anyone to answer because then you are not going to get your finalisations for the day."
"I had people on the phone to me in tears. Because they were saying to me, 'I have done the right thing, I have always reported my income, why are you doing this to me now?'"
And, if you have a strong stomach, from Department of Human Services Manager Hank Jongen:
"Staff working on income reviews are not required to finalise a prescribed number each week. Like any service delivery organisation, we review performance to meet government priorities, but always put people at the centre of our work."
I'm sure he does prioritise people - the people who donate to the Liberal party. The people on $200K+ who think they should pay less tax. The people who think scraping back barely more money than the scheme costs to administer is well worth the point of punishing those who had the gall to be poor in the first place. This revolting scheme should end. But it won't.
9 News
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