Penny Allman-Payne (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister representing the Minister for Social Services (Senator Gallagher) to a question without notice I asked today.

I rise to take note of the response given by the Minister representing the Minister for Social Services. It's now been over two years since the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme handed down its recommendations. It recommended significant legislative change to remedy the harmful wrongs arising from that scheme. In collaboration with the member for Clark, the Greens will be co-introducing a bill to finally act on the royal commission's recommendations to ensure that this can never happen again.

To date, the Labor government has failed to enact all of these recommendations, and the community is still waiting for change to ensure that this dark chapter of Australia's social services history isn't repeated. The stakes are high. The scheme was at least partially responsible for the tragic suicides of several income support recipients, and the severity of that cannot be overstated. Why would Labor not want to do everything in their power to bring about the end of the structures and systems that enabled such a tragic outcome? What is clear is that our broader social services system is not currently one that is designed to meaningfully help the most vulnerable in our society. Instead, it is designed to degrade people, to grind them down and to leave them hopeless and trapped. Most importantly, it's designed to keep everyone else who has a job scared and compliant.

The Labor Party relies on making you believe that a better world isn't possible and that this is the best you can hope for. Yet, when they talk about fiscal responsibility, they're very happy to find millions of dollars for submarines but not to help vulnerable people. We currently have a situation where one in three big corporations in this country pays no tax. Imagine if Labor put as much effort into getting tax out of the big corporations who are not paying it as they do to chase down vulnerable people. The system is flawed. There are many parts of the system that are still unlawful, and it is time for the government to act by enacting all of the recommendations of the royal commission and suspending the stopping of payment suspensions until they are certain that it is lawful.

Question agreed to.

Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ask that, if there are going to be time splits, that the chair be notified in advance. It just makes things a little easier but is not a major issue.