Inside Robo-debt: The Minister’s Adviser

<p>Robo-debt should never have made it into the real world, but once it did, its gatekeepers became greedy and turned the scheme on full throttle.</p><p><br /></p><p>In late 2016, without warning, more than 100,000 people across Australia were swamped by life-altering debts stretching back years.</p><p><br /></p><p>That became a political problem. A scheme politicians thought was a neat and tidy solution to their own ambitions quickly spiralled into a humanitarian disaster. </p><p><br /></p><p>But instead of fixing it, the politicians decided to spin it. Against all the evidence, they tried to convince people robo-debt was working; that the illegal practice was fair and good.</p><p><br /></p><p>Today, we speak to one of the people whose job was to create this alternate reality: Rachelle Miller, the former media adviser to human services minister Alan Tudge.</p><p><br /></p><p><strong>Socials: </strong>Stay in touch with us on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/7ampodcast">Twitter</a> and <a href="http://www.instagram.com/7ampodcast">Instagram</a></p><p><br /></p><p><strong>Guest:</strong> Former media adviser, Rachelle Miller</p><p>See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.</p>