Nothing much the secs and dep secs say washes with robodebt commissioner Catherine Holmes

So far, the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme is all about the Australian Public Service, as you would expect since the Federal Court described the matter in June as a “massive failure of public administration” and a “shameful chapter” in Australia’s social security history.

The former ministers — principally Scott Morrison, Alan Tudge and, later, Christian Porter — will have their day in the commission but their likely political narrative is already writing itself.

It may say that it’s all the fault of the public service, and particularly the then-Department of Human Services, for promising $1.7