Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull faces robodebt royal commission

Mr Turnbull, who served as prime minister between September 2015 and August 2018, said he was assured by a 2015 cabinet submission which stated the Australian Government Solicitor had assessed the constitutional and legislative authority risk of the scheme.

The scheme unlawfully claimed welfare recipients owed debts to the government by comparing reported fortnightly income with annual pay data from the tax office, in a process known as income averaging.

It was eventually discontinued in November 2019, after advice from the Australian Government Solicitor and Solicitor-General that it was not lawful.

"I did not turn my mind to the legality of the program, it never occurred to us that it was unauthorised," Mr Turnbull told counsel assisting the royal commission Justin Greggery.

Mr Turnbull did raise some concerns about the program over WhatsApp with then human services minister Alan Tudge in January 2017.

Mr Tudge responded that "it is not correct that we simply take the average of income declared to ATO and apply that evenly across 26 fortnights".

"It must have become apparent to you at some stage that's exactly what happened in many cases?" Commissioner Catherine Holmes asked Mr Turnbull.

"I just don't recall that, I'm afraid, my recollection is pretty much limited to what I have in the statement," he responded.

"So you were oblivious to the fact that he'd confidently declared no recovery fee was being charged and in fact it was?" Ms Holmes also queried.

Mr Turnbull said he accepted what Mr Tudge was saying: "He was the responsible minister".

Ms Holmes also questioned whether Mr Turnbull had "much confidence Mr Tudge actually had a good grasp on what this system entailed?"

"Alan Tudge, I always regarded as a technocrat, you know, he was a management consultant, he had a lot of experience. I didn't regard him as being a negligent or incompetent or a careless minister," Mr Turnbull said in response.

"There is a WhatsApp here where you can see on the 20th of January 2017, where I say, 'Alan, we need a frank assessment of what the problems are and what is happening to fix them. Are you sure your department is giving you the right advice on what is happening?'

"So you know, I guess I was pressing him, commissioner, to do his job."

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