as billionaires and multinationals rip annual billions from internal revenue with untroubled impunity.
Alan B,
Yes & don't forget the bureaucrats who deny assistance to those in need & don't question applications from drug abusers & those who view work as something other people should do !

Individual

Robo-Debt was brought in too early. What was needed was the ATO and Centre Link to be a combined system.

Of course, it isn't.

As of 2017 statistics there were approx. 1.2M people receiving welfare payments paid to people - over and above the National population of Australia - 25M!

So 1.2M extra Welfare payments being paid under "how many identities" - taxpayer monies being paid via "fraud".

It is now 2020 - so how many more 100 thousands do we add to the 2017 figure.

The issue is not only a Liberal issue it's an issue that has not been addressed by either Governments.....whilst we, as taxpayers, still are being defrauded by those who wilfully believe - they can get as much money as they like.

Australian taxpayers deserve much more scrutiny by all forms of Government, to ensure Welfare payments are provided to those in need, and not the "frauds" who continue to wrought the system.

ensure Welfare payments are provided to those in need, and not the "frauds" who continue to wrought the system.
SAINTS,
Of course & an equally fraudulent system is the salaries structure of bureaucracy ! If we insist on sorting out welfare wrought then we must also insist on sorting out salaries wrought !
Politicians & senior Public Servants are not performing adequately for their salaries ?
They're not value for our money ! Even at half their present salaries they'd still be under-performing !

Individual

So totally agree.

Saints,
you may have noticed that I used your term 'wrought' which I assume you meant to be 'rort" !

WHAT WAS WRONG WITH ROBO-DEBT?
-the Social Security Act allowing Centrelink to class an 'overpayment' as a debt.
-the averaging system
-investigations by Centrelink officers no longer occurring before ‘please explain letters’ were sent.
-a discrepancy (i.e. between Centrelink and ATO records) being determined by a computer, not a person.
-a machine-generated letter being sent: if not addressed within 21 days, becoming evidence of overpayment.
-discrepancies occurring innocently (e.g. employer clerical error / income distortion via income ‘averaging’.
-a 20% ‘error rate’ in the identification of discrepancies.
-discrepancy notices being sent to previous addresses, to a dead person’s parent and the like.
-the computer giving private debt collectors the job of recovering such artificial debts.

And all this driven by a section of our political class that in my view is best understood as vindictive, judgemental, sanctimonious, privileged and ‘entitled’.

Brendan O’Reilly is worried about the elephant in his room. I don’t know Brendan, and his concern may well be honestly expressed, yet I was confused by his focus on what I might term ‘real debts’. His article is ‘balanced’ and full of detail … he seems in control of his subject. And yet, his...

“My guess is that most of the $721 million about to repaid to welfare recipients probably represents genuine (albeit inadequately proven) overpayments”

...undercuts the hard research work involved and demonstrated in the bulk of his article. Unfortunately, in my view, this bells the cat: Perhaps Brendan is more concerned with the cheats than the deserving.

[see: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-03/centrelink-debt-controversy-what-is-robodebt/8317764 ]