The former Coalition staffer’s robodebt royal commission evidence shows how the Coalition led the media on the illegal scheme.
Hats off to Rachelle Miller, Alan Tudge’s former media adviser, who successfully hosed down attempts to reveal the Coalition government’s cruel robodebt scheme. Miller played the media for mugs, and guess what: the media played right along.
The top order issue at the robodebt royal commission is how vulnerable Australians were done over by a government that appeared to care little about the impact of its scheme — including leading to a number of reported suicides — as long as the message it sent of cracking down on welfare cheats played well in key seats.
But Miller’s evidence at the royal commission this week cast a glaring light on the critical enabling role of journalists and the government’s media machine in this cruel game of perception management. You could sense the cockroaches scuttling as the light was switched on.
Keep reading about the robodebt royal commission.
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