so many lawyers and senior public servants have described how the culture within DHS as pervasive and aware that it was inappropriate to mention anything to the political leadership in that department.... Commissioner Holmes is certainly getting to the heart of the problem.
yes it was illegal, but certainly Morrison had made it known he didn't want to know anything that interfered with collecting money from these people. deliberate ignorance is not an an acceptable excuse in law, yet Morrison was trying it on.
"Mr Ffrench was also asked to "comment then on what the dynamics in the department were like in 2017" given he was working within DHS in another role.
"It's a short question but a big one," Mr Ffrench said.
"I think the dynamics in 2017 were not the kind … we're talking about culture, I think, culture and leadership … those things at the time were not conducive to a proper examination of issues relating to this particular program [Robodebt] given that I think many people were determined to achieve a particular outcome for government and once they'd reached that state of mind I think that the honest inquiry into issues like the ones you are raising was not something that was fostered by that culture.
"I believe that the culture and environment at the time prevented people from asking questions that should have been asked because of fear that those questions would be seen as potentially impertinent, unnecessary or the people asking those questions may have been presented as blockers to the achieving of those objectives," he said.
"Commissioner Holmes suggested lawyers within DHS had made the decision to "hunker down" and hope they were not "sued" despite being warned the scheme was unlawful."
