This whole affair has been very stressful. I am currently a disability pensioner and this ongoing saga has meant a great deal of lost sleep and has been detrimental to my health.
The government has handled this matter very poorly. Ministers Tudge and Porter are out of touch with how this is affecting thousands of people like myself. They are saying there is no problem when in fact there is a huge problem.
Last week I received a debt note for $3,414. This amount was rightly paid to me as Newstart allowance when I was unemployed for parts of 2010 and 2011. I have thoroughly reviewed Centrelink's data concerning my case. In doing so I found major anomalies in their "Earned Income" figures under the column "Actual income, What you recently told Centrelink" where Centrelink have falsified the fortnightly amounts I previously declared, inserting instead their average fortnightly income amount (which is erroneous in every case). This figure even appears in the 4 fortnights (2 months straight) where it is obvious I was unemployed and had no income. I am convinced this is fraud, it purports me "recently telling Centrelink" these numbers when in fact that is completely untrue. Fortunately I have screen shots of all these falsifications and will use them in an effort to have my erroneous debt overturned. It's time Minister Tudge got on top of this problem and had this faulty computer program rectified as a matter of urgency!