Under pressure from Scott Morrison to quell media, Alan Tudge resorted to ‘plan B loophole’: Rachelle Miller

Rachelle Miller, former staffer to then-human services minister Alan Tudge. Picture screenshot

Growing media interest in the false debt letters to Centrelink customers was seen as helping the Morrison Coalition government in marginal seats, a former Liberal staffer has told the robodebt royal commission.

Rachelle Miller, former staffer to then-human services minister Alan Tudge, has given evidence the media interest as people complained about receiving debt notices in January 2017 was mixed, initially manageable but quickly became something the prime minister’s office wanted shut down.

A media crisis was brewing in “left-wing Canberra circles”, fueled by “vindictive journalists” who had stopped behaving according to ethics, she said.

However, outlets she described as “right-wing”, including the Murdoch press and commercial broadcasters, were sending a message the Coalition government was “cracking down on welfare cheats”.

“We were getting feedback from the prime minister’s office that actually this was playing quite well in in your marginal seats,” Ms Miller told the commission on Tuesday.

Ms Miller said the media strategy she had developed to provide counter-narratives was not working to quell the negative stories in the outlets she described as left-wing.

Frustrated at being unable to respond to the media reports she felt were inaccurate due to privacy laws, she said they found a “loophole” in the laws that allowed the government to release personal information on individuals in order to correct the record.

Rachelle Miller addresses the robodebt royal commission. Picture screenshot

Some of the cases being reported were not actually robodebt cases, but had debts raised through non-automated processes.

Mr Tudge was under pressure from the prime minister and applying similar pressure on his staff to find these cases and have them dealt with quickly.

“Plan A wasn’t working so we’re going plan B or plan C,” she said, referring to releasing personal information on those complaining through the media.

“In a media strategy, it becomes a risk. I retrospect it’s not something I would do again.”

Media reporting on suicides linked to robodebt were investigated by the department and personally looked into by Mr Tudge, the adviser said.

Those investigations found some of the reported deaths had debts that were from robodebt and some weren’t.

Asked about the culture in the minister’s office, Ms Miller said they were focused on ensuring integrity of the welfare system, and ensuring all debts were collected rather than taking a welfare or counselling view of people who needed it.

“But we were very deeply upset that someone was taking their own life,” she said.

Ms Miller said she was inspired to contact the commission after listening to evidence given by robodebt victims and realising the damage that had been caused by the scheme.

I’m the Public Service Editor and Senior Political Reporter for the Canberra Times, via a career that’s taken me from rural Victoria to Washington DC. Telling the stories of my local LGBTI community brought me to political journalism, where I’ve covered eight budgets, four national elections in two countries, Defence, public service and international governance.

I’m the Public Service Editor and Senior Political Reporter for the Canberra Times, via a career that’s taken me from rural Victoria to Washington DC. Telling the stories of my local LGBTI community brought me to political journalism, where I’ve covered eight budgets, four national elections in two countries, Defence, public service and international governance.

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