14. The Grinch that stole Christmas

The Westminster Tradition

Christmas leave plays an outsize role in Robodebt. Danielle takes us through some of the questions raised about Christmas leave, including who holds the can when people are on leave, and how 'hovering' while you're on leave can confuse and disempower.
She also makes a case that government should never, ever shut down over Christmas, because our work never ends.
Meanwhile, Alison gives another excellent life hack - this time about taking work emails off your phone on leave.
As promised in the episode, here is Commissioner Holmes' finding about what happened to the requested legal advice: "The Commission finds that Ms Campbell instructed DHS officers to cease the process of responding to Mr Jackson’s request for advice, motivated by a concern that the unlawfulness of the Scheme might be exposed to the Ombudsman in the course of its investigation." (see page 189)
This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be.
Intro grab features Commissioner Holmes and Ms Annette Musolino, 30 January 2023.
Later grab features Mr Derek Greggery KC and Ms Kathryn Campbell, 7 March 2023.

Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers....
While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right.
If you want rigorous reporting on Robodebt, we recommend the work of Rick Morton at the Saturday Paper, Chris Knaus and Luke Henriques-Gomes at the Guardian, Ben Eltham at Crikey, Julian Bajkowski at The Mandarin, and of course, the Robodebt Royal Commission itself.
Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at [e-mail].
Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music.
'Til next time!