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.