Statements
Andrew Wilkie: Shocked and baffled …
A STATEMENT ON ALAN TUDGE’S CENTRELINK DENIAL
I’m shocked and baffled by Minister Alan Tudge’s claim this morning that the Centrelink debt recovery system is working fine.
By Centrelink’s own admission they’re sending out some 4,000 incorrect debt notices a week. And the Commonwealth Ombudsman obviously sees the issue as important enough to have commenced an investigation into the matter.
My office continues to receive numerous complaints from people who are being unfairly targeted or simply being asked for information they couldn’t reasonably be expected to find.
The Government is completely out of touch with the community and public interest on this. The Minister must suspend Centrelink’s debt recovery system immediately until the community can have confidence that no one will be unfairly targeted.
Andrew Wilkie, Independent MP for Denison