Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has accused the prime minister of trying to gain political advantage from scathing findings of the royal commission into robodebt, the scheme created under the previous Coalition government.
Dutton, speaking after a Liberal National Party conference, slammed Anthony Albanese and Government Services Minister Bill Shorten for politicising the robodebt scandal.
It comes as the royal commission report was handed down on Friday with referrals for civil and criminal prosecution and 57 recommendations.
Dutton slammed Shorten and Albanese for trying to make political gain from the robodebt scheme and ensuing scandal.
”I caution the glee of the prime minister and Bill Shorten at the moment. They’ve sought to politicise this issue from day one,” he said.
Dutton honed in on Shorten as a “political animal” who has “used every opportunity to milk out whatever political advantage there is to the Labor party out of this issue”.
“Bill Shorten’s politicisation of this process has been documented. He has been pulled up by the speaker on a number of occasions as he has gone close to the line or crossed the line,” he said.
“He’s seen political advantage in this situation, there’s no question about that.”
But he also claimed Albanese has done the same.
He defended the actions of the former government in relation to the robodebt scheme despite it being created and continued over four and a half years during the Coalition’s tenure.
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“When the problems were brought to the attention of the government at the time, the program was stopped,” he said.
”This is their political tombstone, this is what is going to be etched on it, that a group of them abused their power,” he said.
Dutton apologised to the victims of the robodebt scheme.
”I’m sorry to those people who have been adversely affected. I truly am,” he said.
“In relation to those cases we saw before the royal commission and other cases in the media.
“The commission was an important process.
“They’ve made recommendations we’ll consider those.”
”Mr Morrison has provided a response, refuting the allegations made, if there’s a legal process that follows, I don’t know,” he said.
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