Stuart Robert (Fadden, Liberal Party, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) Share this | Hansard source

Thanks, Prime Minister. I would say to the member: if any member can refer any hardship cases through to me, I will ensure the department looks at it. Mental health and suicide, as we all know and we all appreciate, are very delicate issues. There are many factors that build into them. Services Australia assists people facing difficult situations every day. It has the largest social services network to support people within federal government departments in times of crisis and vulnerability and it does this every day. But, as the Prime Minister said, the collection of debts is a lawful responsibility of all governments.

Right now, just so that colleagues are aware in the House, 939,000 Australians have debts—over $5 billion worth—that the government lawfully has to collect across a whole range of programs. Governments of all persuasions have done this across the divide. The government, of course, have paused all debt collection across all programs as we work our way through the COVID crisis, but government will have to restart that debt collection. We will do it sensibly, we will do it engaging all people and we will do it in a very transparent manner. It is incumbent on us all, if we have constituents who are hurting or suffering, to bring them through to me. All colleagues know where I am. Give me a buzz and we will seek quickly to help you out.

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