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

Today in the Senate we are joined by two incredibly brave Queensland women: Kath Madgwick and Jennifer Miller. They are two mums who've made yet another difficult journey to be here—a journey made out of love for their sons, Jarrad Madgwick and Rhys Cauzzo, who took their own lives after being targeted by the robodebt scheme. Jenny and Kath, I am certain that you would rather be anywhere else than here today—rather than still fighting for justice for your boys after so many years. You should not have had to fight this hard for this long, but I am so glad to have you here with us today.

It has been more than eight years since the first robodebt notices were issued and more than two years since the royal commission finished, yet nobody has been held to account. Later today, I will be tabling a petition organised by Kath and Jenny, signed by over 15,000 Australians, calling for accountability and action on robodebt. Over four years, robodebt issued hundreds of thousands of false debt notices to people like Jarrad and Rhys, spreading panic and despair through communities across the country.

Let's be clear. Robodebt was no accident; it was a mass deception. The government of the day knew that its method was unlawful, but it took a cruel bet that most people on income support, already struggling, would give up—that they'd pay debts they didn't owe, rather than fight a system designed to wear them down. People were made to feel like criminals for simply being poor. Robodebt was extortion. It was illegal, and it cost people their lives. So why are we still here? Why has nobody been held to account?

When Labor came to government, Australians were promised a national anticorruption commission to clean up politics. The victims of robodebt put their faith in it. Instead, the NACC we got has been toothless and secretive, refusing to investigate all six referrals from the royal commission and conducting its work entirely behind closed doors. In New South Wales, ICAC hearings are held in public, but, federally, the NACC has not held a single public hearing. Australians deserve a corruption watchdog that exposes wrongdoing, not one that hides it. If this NACC can't deliver justice, the government must fix it because Australians will not accept another system that protects the powerful while the vulnerable pay the price.

While the victims of robodebt wait for justice, this government continues to punish people on income support through a broken welfare system. Key royal commission recommendations remain untouched, including reinstating the six-year limit on debt recovery and ensuring no-one in hardship receives a compliance notice that sends them into panic. We've learned that the government still holds billions in decades-old welfare debts, some dating back to the 1970s. It is even trying to retroactively legalise 30 years of unlawful income apportionment instead of taking responsibility. Under the Targeted Compliance Framework, more than 300,000 people had their payments wrongfully terminated or suspended. Enough is enough. This government must stop the systemic cruelty, stop breaking its own laws and start treating people on income support with dignity.

Jenny has beautifully said in her petition:

I am not just seeking justice for my loss only, but Rhys and every other victim did not deserve the cruel and evil treatment that was bestowed upon them by deception and callous indifference, by a greedy, self-absorbed, power hungry cohort. This is a fight against a system that lacks transparency and accountability. It is a fight for the common Australian whose humble voice has been suppressed by a faulty policy.

We cannot bring back the lives lost or undo the pain endured. But, we can prevent more names on that list. We can create a change that will redefine the tomorrow of the countless Australians negatively affected by Robodebt.

On behalf of the Greens, I commend Jenny and Kath's petition to the Senate, and I call on this government to finally deliver justice, accountability and dignity to every Australian failed by this cruel system.