Scandals

It is remarkable how similar the English Post Office scandal is to our own Robodebt scandal.

I've just watched the first of a series of a tv programme The People versus Robodebt. It is probably geoblocked if you are a foreign type. As I understand it our social welfare government department, Centrelink, took payment beneficiary information from the tax department of annual income, whereas Centrelink payments are based on fortnightly income. 

In both situations, it soon became apparent that there were issues. The Murdoch media in both England and Australia both ignored it, both supporters of the conservative governments of the time. It was left to other media to tell the story in Australia, as pure logical information came spewing out. Yet, no one acted. The government buried its head in the sand, only occasionally popping up to say welfare cheating was wrong and it was committed to stop it.

Some media kept fighting, along with advocates for social security recipients, legal people, and those within the system, who would bob their heads up, to have them quickly cut down by their seniors.

Even now with hindsight, like the Post Office scandal, it is hard to understand how long it went on when it was clearly wrong. In both cases, there were suicides by some of those affected. Houses were lost, marriages and partnerships broke. 

I am angry that I didn't do more. I am angry that our media didn't do more. I am angry that our common garden variety politicians didn't act. I am most of all angry with then Prime Minister Scott Morrison's conservative government. 

And in another parallel, no one has had their head chopped off, and someone's damned well should have been severely punished, in both cases. 

Let's see what happens with extraordinary Grenfell Tower inquiry, still ongoing eight years after 70 odd people died in the fire, in one of the most important and richest cities in the world, one that couldn't provide people with basic building fire protection.