Andrew Wilkie, the independent federal MP for Denison, said last week that some people who have, over the Christmas break, received aggressive letters from Centrelink are close to suicide.
It is not surprising, and it is shameful that it is so. It is also extraordinary that politicians like Christian Porter and Alan Tudge, the Ministers responsible for Centrelink, think its OK to boast about the recovery of debts from generally low-income Australians while their government does little or nothing about the fact that some corporations and many wealthy individuals in this country pay little or no tax.
Centrelink, Mr Tudge and Mr Porter have caused serious distress with the way they have implemented a much-vaunted system that links Centrelink payment records with tax data. For some bizarre reason they decided that sending threatening letters to millions of people over the often emotionally and financially stressful Christmas period was a good idea. They also saw nothing wrong with the content of the letters that essentially accused the recipient of fraud and threatened legal action.
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This columnist has dealt with clients charged with fraud because of alleged Centrelink overpayments. While Centrelink is overzealous in coming after those it believes have been overpaid, it is often sheer incompetence and absurdly complex rules that cause the problem.
In many cases, individuals tell the same story. They called Centrelink to discuss their payment eligibility and were put on hold for hours. They would ring again a day or two later and the same tiresome waiting period on the phone would be the only result. Often the individual just gives up.
A similar experience often occurs if the individual sends an email. No reply is ever received.
Alternatively, or in addition, the sheer complexity of rules and the onerous requirements of Centrelink compliance are designed to ensure the individual fails.