Robodebt and the double standard at the heart of an ongoing scandal

Us and them

The way in which the powers-that-be have handled the aftermath of the Royal Commission into the debacle popularly known as Robodebt has arguably added to the trauma of those who were subjected to this illegal, government-led, media-supported abuse of process. As well, what has happened since the Commission reported has likely undermined the public’s faith in the ability of any government—the political class more broadly—to respond adequately to such a failure of governance.

There is something sickening in the glaring contrast between how the government of the day and their public service ruthlessly enforced the measures associated with income averaging, debt raising, and debt recovery and the solicitude now being extended to those individuals the Royal Commission singled out for investigation.

It is heartbreaking and infuriating to know that some victims of this bureaucratic illegality committed suicide because of the pressure it put them under, while key players in its implementation a…