One Nation senator Brian Burston has labelled Centrelink's contentious debt-recovery system "malicious and bordering on the criminal", adding Pauline Hanson's party to the chorus of concern surrounding the automated clawback.
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One Nation's intervention is likely to pave the way for a Senate inquiry, proposed by Labor and requiring the Greens and another three crossbench votes in order to be established. On Wednesday, the opposition's human services spokeswoman, Linda Burney, said the inquiry should be established to find out "just how the government got this so wrong".
Senator Burston, whose party has supported crackdowns on welfare spending, said the Centrelink debt-recovery project was impacting people "who are among the most disadvantaged in our community" and "puts an unacceptable burden on the staff at Centrelink".
Calling for an immediate suspension of the program, he said it had been "negatively impacted" by government decisions on its implementation and was ignoring protections put in place for social security recipients.
"I do not believe this is an accident. It is deliberate, malicious and bordering on the criminal. If the minister is not responsible for having the system ignore the 'limiting point', he should have known about it," Senator Burston said.
The limiting points, according to the senator, were a feature of the original system, which allowed staff to more easily establish a client's status with Centrelink.
"If he didn't know about it and was doing the job, he could have found out this information just as I have done – as anyone could have done who had the customer's best interests at heart."
A spokesman for Senator Burston said One Nation would likely support the Labor inquiry.
The recently introduced system sends out letters that are automatically generated from data-matching with Australian Taxation Office information. The project has been criticised for miscalculating oversized bills and targeting people who have no debts payable but can face daunting efforts to appeal incorrect findings.
Other common problems include people not receiving the initial letter notifying them of a discrepancy and - up to six years on from when they were receiving payments - no longer having the necessary documentation, like pay slips, to contest decisions.
Twenty per cent of people who have received a notice of discrepancy have ultimately had no debt payable. The government says it has identified $300 million it is owed by recipients.
Labor's call for a Senate inquiry came after their request that the Australian National Audit Office investigate the matter was denied, with Auditor-General Grant Hehir citing an existing examination by the Commonwealth Ombudsman.
The government has defended the system as working well, contending that it has a duty to taxpayers and that welfare recipients had a duty to prove they were eligible for payments.
"No doubt some people have paid monies to Centrelink that should not have been paid, just to avoid the penalties threatened. I urge them to request a review of their case immediately," Senator Burston said Wednesday.
"[Human Services Minister] Alan Tudge has a lot of questions to answer and One Nation will not rest until those questions are answered to the satisfaction of the electorate."
The system has so far focused on recipients of youth allowance and Austudy and will next move to those who have received the aged pension and disability support pension. That stage will be based on assets and investments rather than income.
