'Now is not the time': Scott Morrison blames welfare principle also 'followed by Labor' for robodebt scandal
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has blamed a welfare principle followed by both major parties for the $720 million in Centrelink robodebts the federal government will repay.
"The income averaging principle is one that has been followed by Labor and Coalition governments for a very long period of time," Mr Morrison said on Monday morning. "Over the course of dealing with this issue, that principle was not something that could be relied upon."
The federal government revealed on Friday it would repay 460,000 Centrelink debts accrued since 2015 at a cost of almost three quarters of a million dollars, a controversy Mr Morrison blamed on a decades-old income-averaging principle followed by both major parties.
The robodebt scheme relied on income-averaging - which smoothed welfare recipients' income over several pay cycles - to calculate what debts were owed.
Mr Morrison followed Attorney-General Christian Porter and Social Services Minister Anne Ruston in not apologising for the robodebt scheme.
"[The failure of income-averaging] doesn't mean those debts don't exist. It just means that they cannot be raised, solely, on the basis of using income-averaging," Mr Morrison said.
Asked what he would say to victims of the scheme, the Prime Minister said, "I think the time for those sorts of statements is another time, not right now."
Senator Ruston also refused to apologise when asked about the debts on Monday morning, saying "the matter is subject to legal proceedings and obviously I need to be careful about I say in this area."
Labor's government services spokesman Bill Shorten apologised to victims in an Instagram video.
"I am sorry," Mr Shorten said. "I'm not the government but as someone in public life I'm sorry you had to go through this madness."
A class action lawsuit steered by Gordon Legal will continue despite the federal government pledging to repay debts, where the scheme's victims will seek an apology and compensation.