Howdy dear availees in the USofA, Japan, South Africa, and The Netherlands...just a very quick post about the 'wonderful' news that the ideologically spiteful and rancidly corrupt Liberal/National Party have capitulated on the RoboDebt issue...(why the 'wonderful' with '-'?-Ed)...well I'll get to that, it's basically about the degrees of culpability of the LNP and the damage that's already been done, etc...(fair enough-Ed)...and what led to this Court case and capitulation...(right, so it's good news that they've folded, but perhaps we shouldn't even have got to this position in the first instance-Ed)...pretty much, but go even further back to things like the LNP's 'Anti-Poor' ideology that underpins the creation of RoboDebt...(and the fact that the LNP deliberately demonise the unemployed, pensioners, etc, as politically expedient scapegoats-Ed)...spot on, all of that...but some people have hit back with a Class Action that has just seen the LNP suddenly pull-out literally the day before the Trial was to begin...
For those unawares of RoboDebt and how and why it exists...(existed, it's now officially defunct-Ed)...yeah, but is it? is it really?...(well part of the massive $1.2billion Repayment/Compensation agreement includes the cancellation of some $398million worth of pending debts-Ed)...fair call, but does that mean that the LNP have completely pulled the plug on the entire program?...(mmm, dunno, good point, but just looking at the numbers, it's $721m being refunded to 373,000 people who have/had a combined total of 470,000 'debts', with $112m in compensation payments to those people, and then the $398m in cancelled 'debts'-Ed)...anyhoos, for detailed explanation of RoboDebt a simple Interweb search of that word will take you to reams of material...basically, it is/was an automated debt creation system relating to alleged over-payments predominantly of Newstart Allowance (Unemployment Benefit), but increasingly was drawing-in Aged Pensioners and Disability Support Pensioners, etc...(and that was whilst the entire 'program' was being heavily criticised for it's inaccuracies, inappropriateness, and general 'unlawfulness'-Ed)...exactly...
Here is a link to an excellent site/story, that includes a very concise chronology of events that shows that the LNP knew full well that what they were doing was effectively unlawful and was creating vast numbers of erroneous 'debts', eg, the LNP capitulated on a private case 18 months ago, showing they knew what they were doing was 'wrong'...and then a year ago the Federal Court effectively ruled RoboDebt "unlawful"...(but despite these LNP admissions and Court ruling, the LNP bloody-mindedly forged ahead anyway, dismissing any criticism and refusing to review the legislation/operation of RoboDebt-Ed)...exactly, it's one thing to massively cock-up 'cos you're ignorant and/or incompetent, it's a whole other Cuttlefish to know what you're doing is so, so wrong, and then continue to do it anyway...("Cuttlefish"?-Ed)...oh, errr, 'kettle of fish', beg pardon...anyhoos, do y'allselves a favour and read this story and timeline, it's excellently presented...
But this sudden capitulation by the Scott 'Scummo' Morrison LNP is not an acceptance that they have acted unlawfully or even inappropriately...(well indeed, Minister Stuart Roberts, one of the several Ministers to have overseen RoboDebt, he was in the media only last night stating that this capitulation and re-payments, etc, is not an admission by the government that they did anything wrong-Ed)...well apart from the fact that 'Rolex' Stewie has exactly zero credibility, on any issue, eg, his massive Internet cost claims and subsequent repayment, accepting a Rolex watch from a Chinese donor, falsely claiming that the Centrelink website crashing was a 'hack', etc, etc, etc...(indeed, look 'im up, it's just one hilarious debacle after another-Ed)...and apart from all that, he was one of the several LNP Ministers involved in overseeing and defending the RoboDebt program...and there-in lies the main motivation for Scummo & Co turning-tail and abandoning the Court case...this is not about the LNP genuinely admitting fault and displaying actual humility and empathy and understanding and contrition, etc, etc, this is solely about protecting the rankly complicit hacks of the LNP...this withdrawal and repayments, etc, is solely about protecting the list of LNP stooges who would otherwise have wound-up in the witness box giving evidence on their roles in this Class A Debasco (debacle meets fiasco at speed)...
By withdrawing from the impending Trial, and making these payments and removing those pending debts, etc, Scummo is acting purely to protect the Ministers involved...(and imagine my surprise that he's one of those Ministers-Ed)...in fact, Scummo's one of the key players, if not the actual instigator of RoboDebt...and this list is headed by Scummo, then our mate Christian Porter, Alan Tudge, Stewie mate, and of course Paul Fletcher (no relation)...(then there's a litany of department heads and junior LNP Ministers/Members who are directly responsible and/or involved and/or have defended the scheme, etc-Ed)...absolutely...and 'cos it ain't their $1.2b that they're spending, it's a small price to pay to avoid accountability...(is it 'Irony' that RoboDebt and the attached political shaming strategy, etc, were supposedly about stopping these criminal unemployed/pensioner low lifes from ripping-off good god-fearing Taxpayers, etc, and the fact that the same Taxpayers are now gunna' pay even more by way of re-paying those 'recovered debts' and associated compensation, etc? is that 'Ironic'?-Ed)...I'm pretty sure that's definitively 'Ironic' Ed, text-book 'Irony'...and it may yet get worse (more expensive) 'cos there may be further Court cases and/or claims for compensation, etc...
But the most cynical and potentially evil aspect of this Withdrawal and it's genuine motivation of protecting the LNP, etc, relates to the most horrendous outcomes of the RoboDebt scheme...amongst all of the unnecessary concerns and distress caused, it is well documented that there were over 2,000 deaths related to RoboDebt recipients, and that part of that number were confirmed as Suicides directly related to receipt of an alleged debt notice...(and every one of these LNP pricks knows that, knew that and continued anyways, defended it anyways, and that's the ultimate truth that they are so desperately keen to avoid!-Ed)...in an ideal and just world, each of these soulless pricks would be sat in a chair under a very bright light and held to account...(I'd suggest the families and friends of the deceased are allowed carte-blanche verbal retribution, from a COVID-19 appropriate 2metres away-Ed)...great idea Ed, would that it might actually happen...
And as though as to self-define that there is no limit to his own professional denialist, self-involved hypocrisy, whilst this withdrawal was happening, Scummo was holding yet another interminable press conference, this time about Mental Health issues...I heard 25-30 minutes of relentless self-congratulatory word-salad psycho-babble, but he apparently went for a full 45...(mate, it sounded to me like he was on the gear, fully loaded-up with whatevs stimulant is his personal poison-Ed)...indeed, and whilst that's usually a solid serve of his own self-wonder and the joy of hearing his own voice, it did sound on this occasion like he had some kinda' chemical leg-up...(it's a popular theme on Twitter for sure-Ed)...it was a very bizarre display, even for Scummo...and the ultimate cynicism of the pseudo-Christian Scummo is pretending to give a damn about people's Mental Health whilst over-seeing and defending RoboDebt, despite knowing what devastating effects it was having for recipients of those 'Unlawful Debts'...(and then denying those people their day in Court-Ed)...just extraordinary low conduct, even for Scummo...
And where's our illustrious leader to be seen in all this today?...(ummm, I'm gunna' go with what I hope is a cynical jibe, and say Hawaii-Ed)...ooo, so close, but nope, Scummo's done his li'l turn on the catwalk as above, then he's buggered-off to Japan, like a rat out of an aqueduct...(well Japan's nowhere near Hawaii-Ed)...yeah sure, geographically speaking it ain't, but politically distant-wise it's just as good, and it allows not only 1) for Scummo to avoid any unpleasant questions about the rank bastardry of the LNP as evident in the use of and defence of RoboDebt and withdrawal, etc...(like the rankly pro-LNP complicit Main Stream Media and ABC are gunna' ask those questions-Ed)...which was going to be my second point, namely, 2) Scummo's absence means the pro-LNP MSM and ABC can avoid any Twitter-based backlash for quietly avoiding the entire issue by not asking those difficult questions anyways, now 'cos they can't and therefore don't have to...and having said that, for some reason I watched the ABC's 7.30 program last evening, first time in a long time, and was gently stunned to see the always excellent Laura Tingle as fill-in host and some openly critical reportage of the LNP...but I digress...
Here's a link to an excellent site/story that helps detail who knew what about what and when...it's well worth a thorough read 'cos it again helps explain/highlight how the faults with RoboDebt were widely and well known and in many instances quite deliberate...
https://www.zdnet.com/article/ministers-and-officials-named-in-updated-robo-debt-class-action-claim/
And as if that weren't enough to get any of these clowns fired...(which it won't, 'cos even if the LNP weren't self-satisfied 'Born To Rule' egomanic sociopaths who ain't ever gunna' give it up no matters what, apart from all that, Scummo ain't gunna' risk his miniscule Parliamentary majority of 2, not for nuthin'-Ed)...indeed, and that's what Porter et al know, eg, ain't nobody goin' no where for jumpin' and then denigrating their staff, let alone this...and in that vein, Alan Tudge has done another piece of thinly-veiled Slut Shaming regarding his affair with his former staffer...and his pseudo-apology is so odorous in it's denials and intent it deserves a whole post all it's own...and that's what it's gunna' get...
Tomorrow: Alan Tudge Is A Right Prick
And whilst I ain't exactly perfect, these guys are absolute arseholes in every sense of the word...and it's not just their hypocrisy, it's the self-righteousness that underpins it...(and so one assumes we're gunna' include the wholly repugnant professional drunkard National's Barnaby Joyce-Ed)...well it would be very remiss of us to not include him given that he is the text-book personification of what we're talking about with Hypocritical Misogyny...(yay, Barnaby-Ed)...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers and laters...
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