Jacqui Lambie grills Defence over $900,000 job for Robodebt department boss Kathryn Campbell

By William On Jun 2, 2023

Jacqui Lambie has delivered an impassioned speech demanding an official quit her new $900,000 job as a supervisor for the AUKUS nuclear subs project.

The Independent Tasmanian Senator slammed Federal Defense Secretary Greg Moriarty over his decision to appoint Kathryn Campbell to a senior position within the submarine task force in Senate Estimates on Thursday.

Ms Campbell was previously with the department responsible for Robodebt, where thousands of Australians were mistakenly given Centrelink IOUs after being targeted by an algorithm.

Robodebt is currently the subject of a royal commission to ‘determine those responsible for the scheme and its impact on Australians’. The study will be completed on July 7, 2023.

Jacqui Lambie has delivered an impassioned speech demanding the resignation of an official who was offered a $900,000 job as an AUKUS supervisor

At a parliamentary hearing, Ms Campbell previously controversially tried to shift the blame onto Robodebt victims who had ‘had no contact’ with Centrelink during the life of the plan. She later insisted that no people had committed suicide as a result of the automated service.

The senior official has always denied any deliberate failure. In July 2021, then Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the appointment of Ms Campbell as Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

In June 2022, newly elected Prime Minister Anthony Albanese revealed that she had been transferred to the AUKUS related role.

Senator Lambie was furious about the decision this week: “It’s almost like she was rewarded.”

‘Why is she still in this house, when I have people who have taken their own lives and whose lives have been ruined because of Robodebt.

“She works in the Defense Department, where we have veterans’ assault and suicide… what do you think?

“We have a standard problem. You want people to join the defense and you have a woman here… who was part of those Robodebt suicides.

“You say kudos to your baby here, come and get it.”

Ms. Cambell served as secretary of the Department of Human Services during the initial rollout of Robodebt and took the stand in both Senate committees’ investigations into the plan

Australia will command a fleet of eight nuclear-powered submarines within the next three decades as part of an accelerated plan to deter Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific

The Tasmanian senator was emotional as she berated Mr Moriarty, who seemed shocked by the line of inquiry.

He said, “When I appointed her, there was no royal commission.

“I was asked if there was a suitable role for someone of her Defense seniority… there was a role that required someone with very high skills in support of the Nuclear-Powered Submarines Task Force.”

But Senator Lambie said his apology wasn’t good enough and demanded she be removed from office.

“If she’s not up to the standard, she shouldn’t be in that job. It is no longer appropriate [and] is a slap in the face to everyone who took their own life because of Robodebt, and their families.

“If you’re the leader you think you are, then it’s time for her to go. It is a shame.’

The Tasmanian senator was emotional as she berated Mr Moriarty, who seemed shocked by the line of inquiry. He said: ‘When I appointed her, there was no royal commission’

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese unveiled the AUKUS plan along with US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in San Diego

Senator Lambie anticipated further apologies from the defense chief, adding, “Don’t tell me something can’t be done because that’s bullshit… do something.”

Ms. Campbell famously told a 2020 Senate inquiry that she was convinced no one had died as a direct result of Robodibt.

“No, I don’t accept that people have died from robodebt,” she said.

“We know that suicide is a very difficult subject, we know that mental health issues are very difficult. We do not accept [there were deaths over robodebt].

Labor Senator Jenny McAllister, who was also present at the Senate estimates hearing, noted that Ms Campbell’s appointment to AUKUS was prior to the creation of a royal commission.

She also noted that the government – and the public – are still awaiting the commission’s findings.

“The royal commission’s recommendations will be considered very carefully and appropriately,” she said.

Timeline of the AUKUS plan

Australia will command a fleet of eight nuclear-powered submarines within the next three decades under an accelerated plan that will cost up to $368 billion.

From this year, Australian military and civilian personnel will be conscripted into the US Navy and Royal Navy, and UK and US submarine industrial bases to train Australian personnel.

The US plans to expand more nuclear-powered submarine visits to Australian ports this year, with Australian sailors joining US crews.

From 2026, the UK will increase visits to Australia.

As early as 2027, up to four US Virginia-class submarines and one British nuclear ship will run their nuclear-powered submarines to Australia, from Perth.

In the early 2030s, around 2033 – pending approval by the US Congress – the US will sell at least three Virginia-class submarines, with the potential to purchase two more.

The UK will deliver its first SSN-AUKUS in the late 2030s.

In the early 2030s, Australia will deliver its first SSN-AUKUS, built at the Osborne submarine construction yard in South Australia.

The project is expected to cost between $268 billion and $368 billion by 2054/55.

On forward estimates, the cost will be about $9 billion. At least $3 billion of that will go to the US to ensure they can produce enough submarines for Australia.

The remaining $6 billion will be spent in Australia, mainly in South Australia and Western Australia, to begin ramping up their own shipbuilding and infrastructure maintenance.

In the medium term (the 10 years to 2032-33), the program will cost between $50 and $58 billion.

In the longer term, until the 2050s, it will cost an average of about 0.15 percent of GDP per year.