Big name, no consequences: Justice for robodebt heist ebbs away

If parts of the Albanese government’s cabinet have private misgivings about the time-management skills and appetite for genuine reform of the Australian Public Service Commission, they didn’t do that much to hide them at Monday’s midday press conference to release the government’s response to the recommendations of the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme.

The four ministerial protagonists looked tense and frustrated. The process of reform to remedy what is arguably the single biggest ethical, legal and systemic failure of the Australian Public Service came to a natural conclusion of sorts but was utterly devoid of the names or punishments meted out to creators, enablers and sympathisers.