Australia's anti-corruption watchdog has cleared former Prime Minister Scott Morrison of corruption despite his role in the robodebt scheme - one of the most damaging policy failures in modern Australian history.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) released findings that have outraged victims and raised serious questions about the effectiveness of Australia's newly created corruption body.
The robodebt scheme illegally pursued hundreds of thousands of vulnerable Australians for debts they didn't owe, using an automated system that calculated fictional debts based on averaged income data. A royal commission found the scheme was unlawful from the start and contributed to deaths among those targeted.
Yet the NACC has now cleared Morrison, who was prime minister during much of the scheme's operation, using what critics call "extraordinary excuses and justifications."
Mate, this is the institution that was supposed to hold politicians accountable. Instead, it's let the bloke at the top walk away clean.
Victims of the scheme have been unequivocal in their response. "Naming them is not justice," one told The Guardian. The NACC's decision to name individuals involved but take no further action has left those who suffered under robodebt feeling abandoned by the system meant to protect them.
The royal commission into robodebt found the scheme was a "crude and cruel mechanism" that "made many people feel like criminals." It led to suicides and caused immense psychological harm to some of Australia's most vulnerable citizens.
The scheme ran from 2015 to 2019, raising over $750 million in debts that were later found to be unlawful. The government has since repaid more than $750 million and is facing a class action that could cost billions more.
