|
Post by itsmylife08 on Jul 24, 2023 22:25:23 GMT 7
and just got told that Robert has fled Australia to live in another country. Does anybody know more about that? a no-extradition country if so. I think the person that fled Australia was John Margerison, Stuart Roberts's major backer, it said in an article I read that he had cut all ties with Australia. It's funny in a way like rats leaving a sinking ship... Cheers Itsa
|
|
|
Post by scuzzy on Jul 25, 2023 0:27:25 GMT 7
|
|
|
Post by Banjo on Jul 25, 2023 6:41:01 GMT 7
Unfortunately little good comes from this type of change, they are replaced by people who they have personally trained and mentored and have inherited a similar code of (or lack of) ethics. When the Libs take power they are shameless about cleaning out all senior Public Servants whom they consider are ideologically unsound, maybe Labor needs to do this more thoroughly as well.
|
|
|
Post by bear on Jul 25, 2023 8:22:32 GMT 7
|
|
|
Post by bear on Jul 31, 2023 17:21:39 GMT 7
Scott Morrison accuses Labor of campaign of ‘political lynching’ against him on robodebt
Former social services minister and PM tells parliament royal commissioner Catherine Holmes’s findings were ‘unfounded and wrong’
Scott Morrison has accused the robodebt royal commission of “unfairly and retroactively” applying a consensus the debt recovery program was unlawful, while telling parliament Labor was pursuing a campaign of “political lynching” against him.On Monday the former prime minister made a personal statement to a near empty lower house of parliament rejecting the commission’s central findings as “unfounded and wrong”. Morrison also accused the media of a “disproportionate” focus on his role in the program and Labor of “rank hypocrisy” for not removing illusory savings from their election costings while the Coalition repeatedly claimed it was lawful despite expert warnings to the contrary. The robodebt royal commissioner, Catherine Holmes, found Morrison, who was social services minister from December 2014 to September 2015, had “allowed cabinet to be misled” about whether legislation was required to raise debts through a method known as “income averaging”. That was because Morrison did not make the “obvious inquiry” about why his department had changed its view on whether legislation was required to change social security law. “He chose not to inquire,” she said. Scott Morrison makes a statement to a near empty lower house of parliament rejecting the robodebt royal commission’s central findings as ‘unfounded and wrong’. After the minister for government services, Bill Shorten, read these findings into Hansard during question time, Morrison told the House of Representatives that while he acknowledged the “regrettable unintended consequences” of the scheme, he “completely rejects” the adverse findings against him. He said the commission’s conclusions were “disproportionate, wrong, unsubstantiated, and contradicted by clear evidence presented to the commission”. After an executive minute warned in 2015 that legislation may need to be changed for the robodebt proposal to go ahead, Morrison said he had asked his department to resolve any legal issues. This resulted in a new policy proposal that “provided clear and explicit advice from the department that legislation was not required”, which “superseded all previous advice”. Morrison said he was “constitutionally and legally entitled” to rely on advice and his duties were therefore “fully and properly discharged”. “The Department of Social Services continued to maintain that the scheme was lawful and did not require any legislation until the provision of the solicitor generals advice, in 2019, five years after the cabinets submission was first considered.” Scott Morrison thanked his colleagues for their ‘strong support’. Morrison noted robodebt was one of 51 new policy proposals in his portfolio, and in more than 30 the department had indicated the need for legislation. Morrison argued Labor had effectively committed “to continuing the scheme” because their policy costings at the 2016 and 2019 elections did not delete savings the Coalition claimed would materialise. The royal commission noted that Labor wrote to the government as early as December 2016 asking for the scheme to be paused. A class action over robodebt would later result in $1.8bn of debts being wiped. Pressure builds for Scott Morrison to resign after damning robodebt report findings Read moreMorrison argued the commission was “weaponisation of a quasi legal process to launder the government’s political vindictiveness”. He said it was part of a “campaign of political lynching” and a “further attempt” by the Albanese government to discredit him and his service. “They need to move on … instead of trying to distract attention from their own failings by relentlessly pursuing these transparently partisan campaigns against me,” he said. Morrison said the commission’s finding “unfairly and retroactively applies a consensus on the understanding of the lawful status of the scheme that simply was not present or communicated at the time”. “This is clearly an unreasonable, untenable and false basis to make the serious allegation of allowing cabinet to be misled.” Christian Porter Whose doing was it?: what we’ve learned from the robodebt royal commission Read moreThe commission also said it “rejects as untrue” Morrison’s evidence that he was told by an unnamed public servant that the income averaging method was established practice. Morrison rejected this as “unsubstantiated, speculative and wrong”. He argued the commission had effectively “reversed the onus of proof”. The royal commission found the robodebt proposal was ‘precisely responsive’ to the Coalition government’s policy agenda. “I stated in evidence what I understood to be true, the commission failed to disprove this and simply asserted it unilaterally as fact,” he told parliament. The royal commission found the robodebt proposal was “precisely responsive” to the Coalition government’s policy agenda communicated by Morrison “against the backdrop of a drive for savings”. Morrison said the finding that pressure was applied is “wrong, unsubstantiated and absurd”, arguing senior departmental executives “withheld key information” regarding the legality of the scheme, which he labelled “inexcusable”. “The department had already initiated the proposal before my arrival as minister, how could I have pressured officials while serving in another portfolio?” Despite speculation that Morrison could exit parliament mid-year, the member for Cook said he was “pleased to continue to serve” his electorate. He thanked his colleagues for their “strong support”. Fewer than half a dozen opposition MPs were in the chamber. www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jul/31/scott-morrison-accuses-labor-of-campaign-of-political-lynching-against-him-on-robodebt
|
|
|
Post by bear on Jul 31, 2023 17:32:41 GMT 7
While a lot of the former post is already scattered throughout the thread, I'm posting this mostly for laughs; except for the quote!! One of my main memories of the whole debacle was that that was exactly what the government did; 'reversed the onus of proof.' Chickens coming home to roost, pot kettle black...... karma's a beach Scottie and your attempts at justifying your behaviour is like a stand up comedy routine. Damned hilarious...... Like a cheeky lil tyke with your hand stuck in the lolly jar. Cheers 🐻
|
|
|
Post by latindancer on Jul 31, 2023 17:45:25 GMT 7
Morrison is utilising Plausible Deniability.
Plausible deniability is the ability of people, typically senior officials in a formal or informal chain of command, to deny knowledge of or responsibility for actions committed by or on behalf of members of their organizational hierarchy. They may do so because of a lack or absence of evidence that can confirm their participation, even if they were personally involved in or at least willfully ignorant of the actions. If illegal or otherwise disreputable and unpopular activities become public, high-ranking officials may deny any awareness of such acts to insulate themselves and shift the blame onto the agents who carried out the acts, as they are confident that their doubters will be unable to prove otherwise. The lack of evidence to the contrary ostensibly makes the denial plausible (credible), but sometimes, it makes any accusations only unactionable.
For the whole description en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plausible_deniability#:~:text=Plausible%20deniability%20is%20the%20ability,members%20of%20their%20organizational%20hierarchy.
|
|
|
Post by bear on Aug 3, 2023 21:07:44 GMT 7
Robodebt: 16 bureaucrats named in royal commission report face investigation by public service agency
Independent reviewer to decide if the former and current staff have breached the public service code of conduct
The government’s central public service agency has revealed it will investigate 16 referrals relating to former and current bureaucrats named in the robodebt royal commission report.In an update on Thursday afternoon, the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) – which has established a taskforce to deal with code of conduct referrals – said it had written to the individuals to notify them. The royal commissioner Catherine Holmes handed down the report last month, describing robodebt as a “crude and cruel” scheme and a massive failure of public administration. Kathryn Campbell quits $900,000 top defence job after robodebt royal commission report Read more
At least seven public servants, including the former Department of Human Services secretaries Kathryn Campbell and Renée Leon, were the subject of adverse findings. Campbell resigned from her $900,000-a-year Aukus role in July just days after it was revealed she had been suspended without pay. Two other top bureaucrats, including the Services Australia chief operating officer, Annette Musolino, and Russell De Burgh, an assistant secretary in the prime minister’s department, have been removed from agency organisational charts since the report’s release. The APSC on Thursday said the 16 referrals included current APS employees named in the report’s sealed section. It also covered former employees referred by their most recent agency boss and former agency heads referred by the most relevant minister. Guardian Australia is not suggesting those adversely named in the public section of the report are the same as those referred to the code of conduct taskforce. The public service commission said findings against those adversely named would be made on the balance of probabilities. “An assessment will now be undertaken to establish in each case whether there are sufficient grounds to commence an investigation into suspected breach(es) of the APS Code of Conduct,” the commission’s statement said. “In line with their legislated duties, agency heads have determined the most appropriate action to improve or change behaviour, including ongoing management of performance through counselling, training, mentoring or closer supervision for those employees not referred to the APS Code of Conduct processes. “Agency heads have made decisions regarding the employment arrangements for current APS employees who have been referred to the Code of Conduct process.” The independent reviewer Stephen Sedgwick will now inquire into whether the individuals have breached the Australian public service’s code of conduct. The Department of Health deputy secretary, Penny Shakespeare, has also been appointed as a supplementary reviewer to look into the conduct of former agency heads. At the release of the report, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said he had sought advice about whether the confidential sealed chapter can eventually be released, after further actions against named individuals and legal appeals are exhausted. The government services minister, Bill Shorten, told Guardian Australia the commissioner had recommended the sealed chapter remain confidential until action was taken by regulators. “But I think eventually detail just emerges, not from the sealed report but from the conduct of individuals and processes,” he said. www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/aug/03/robodebt-16-bureaucrats-named-in-royal-commission-report-face-investigation-by-public-service-agency
|
|
|
Post by bear on Sept 8, 2023 18:44:26 GMT 7
Services Australia apologises to staff over ‘unfair toll’ of robodebt
Agency’s chief executive says Centrelink staff acted in ‘good faith’, following damning royal commission findings
Services Australia staff have received an apology from management over the robodebt scandal, with the agency’s chief executive saying that workers who enforced the scheme had suffered an “unfair toll”.In a video message sent to staff on Friday afternoon, the Services Australia chief executive, Rebecca Skinner, praised staff who had spoken up about the unlawful income averaging scheme – which was the subject of a damning royal commission this year. “I know robodebt and the fallout from the scheme has been difficult for you all to navigate,” Skinner said in the video, according to a transcript obtained by Guardian Australia. “I want to apologise to all of you for robodebt. Robodebt is a heavy burden that many of you still carry.” The message mentions staff who “lived it first hand”, those who were involved in refunds or the class action brought by victims of the scheme, and “many of you who had nothing to do with robodebt at all, but have experienced your friends and family asking questions about the state of the agency”. Skinner also mentioned staff having “distressing conversations” with “vulnerable customers”, and ongoing “frustration and loss of trust” that staff experience from customers today. “To those who worked directly on the program, I know you acted in good faith, under assurances from senior management. Your integrity remains intact. Your character is not in question,” her message continued. “Robodebt has taken an unfair toll on you collectively and as individuals. You deserve an apology from your agency.” A Services Australia spokesperson said the apology had been delivered to all staff, to acknowledge “the profound impact” robodebt and the royal commission had taken on employees. “Since the conclusion of the Royal Commission, we’ve been actively seeking staff feedback and holding restorative justice sessions with senior leaders to ensure their views help inform our next steps as an organisation,” they said in a statement. “Their health and wellbeing remains our priority and we’re continuing to offer them every available support.” Staff had previously raised calls for an apology from management. The frontline Centrelink worker Jeannie-Marie Blake, who told the royal commission in February she would never forget what staff were “forced” to do victims of the program, suggested an apology was warranted. “My manager took it to the management team and she came back and told me I wasn’t entitled to an apology because I was a public servant being paid,” she said at the time. Blake said she and her colleagues had raised concerns about the robodebt scheme from its inception in 2015, but claimed those warnings fell on deaf ears. Skinner’s message went on to specifically praise staff who raised concerns about robodebt. “I want to commend everyone who spoke up and tried to do the right thing. Whether you did so at the time, or made your voice heard through the royal commission, I applaud your courage,” she said. “You are the backbone of our organisation and I want you to know your leaders and I are listening to you. Everyone should feel safe to raise issues to keep our customers at the heart of every decision we make. It’s my job now to make sure that we are listening.” Skinner’s message said Services Australia would continue “working through the lessons learned from the royal commission”. Bill Shorten, minister for government services, was contacted for comment. Melissa Donnelly, national secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) representing government workers, said workers involved had “long deserved an apology”. Robodebt: 16 bureaucrats named in royal commission report face investigation by public service agency Read more
“The personal and professional impacts of Robodebt on frontline workers in Centrelink were profound, and in many cases, left passionate, good-hearted, and experienced public servants broken,” she said. Donnelly suggested staff also deserved an apology from Kathryn Campbell, the former department secretary, and former Coalition ministers involved in the scheme. She said current staff wanted the now Labor government to deliver “significant investment in their agency, which is in crisis”. “Services Australia is lucky to have thousands of hardworking staff who are committed to helping Australians, but significant under resourcing is compromising their ability to deliver the public services people rely on,” she said. “Years of cuts to staffing have left the agency without enough people to do the amount of work that needs to be done. Our members in Services Australia deserved better during robodebt, and they deserve better now.” www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/sep/08/services-australia-staff-centrelink-robodebt-apology
|
|
|
Post by Denis-NFA on Sept 9, 2023 9:36:06 GMT 7
It's a trauma working for Services Australia!
|
|
|
Post by itsmylife08 on Sept 9, 2023 15:43:14 GMT 7
It's a trauma working for Services Australia! It can also be very traumatic having to deal with them Denis Cheers Itsa
|
|
|
Post by Denis-NFA on Sept 10, 2023 20:28:00 GMT 7
It's a trauma working for Services Australia! It can also be very traumatic having to deal with them Denis Cheers Itsa That goes without saying itsmylife08, Though I have to say that in the main I generally got good treatment from the people I met with in Centrelink. But the Robotdebt was crap and its good that it was exposed.
|
|
|
Post by nomadic on Feb 8, 2024 20:01:40 GMT 7
|
|
|
Post by bear on Feb 9, 2024 6:39:03 GMT 7
Don't hold your breath on that nomadic. It seems the APS is a protected species, not only from RC findings, which are only unenforceable recommendations but most probably from any action by NACC as well. Just one more toothless tiger among many others; RC's included..... Made to placate the mindless masses, nothing more; unfortunately. No cheers from me; 🐻 "The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) is an independent Australian Government agency that detects, investigates and reports on serious or systemic corrupt conduct in the Australian Government public sector. The NACC also educates the public service and the public about corruption risks and prevention." www.ag.gov.au/integrity/national-anti-corruption-commission#:~:text=The%20National%20Anti%2DCorruption%20Commission,about%20corruption%20risks%20and%20prevention.
|
|
|
Post by itsmylife08 on Feb 9, 2024 17:32:33 GMT 7
The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) is an independent Australian Government agency that detects, investigates, and reports on serious or systemic corrupt conduct in the Australian Government public sector. The NACC also educates the public service and the public about corruption risks and prevention."
So what you're saying is bear, the NACC gives the public service the heads up on important matters and advises if they are heading in the wrong direction, and yet they still stuff it up. FGS bring back the noose ASAP...
Cheers itsa
|
|