Mother of Robodebt victim accuses Scott Morrison of 'dancing around' questions during testimony

When Scott Morrison placed his hand on the bible and took an oath ahead of his testimony to the Robodebt Royal Commission testimony in Brisbane, Kath Madgwick looked on and hoped the former prime minister was true to his word.

"I don't know whether he goes to confession, but I think he's dancing around it," Madgwick told A Current Affair.

Madgwick's son Jarrad died by suicide after the automated welfare debt clawback scheme incorrectly stated he owed $2000.

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The 22-year-old's death was one of several linked to Robodebt, which affected around 380,000 people who had been given unlawful debts as part of the disastrous scheme.

Morrison was variously the Social Services Minister, Treasurer and Prime Minister throughout Robodebt's span.

Today he was grilled by the commission's Senior Counsel Assisting, Justin Greggery, over whether he knew Robodebt was illegal before he put it into play.

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"I feel he's got no empathy for the people sitting in the room," Madgwick said.

"It near brought me to tears to the way he was speaking about welfare and the taxpayers and getting the money back for taxpayers."

Morrison described himself as the "welfare cop" while Commissioner Catherine Holmes pulled him into line several times for providing unnecessary detail in his answers.

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The Commissioner's reprimands pleased Madgwick.

"I love it actually, she does it much more diplomatically than I would," Madgwick said.

Morrison insists he inherited the scheme's framework when he took over the social services portfolio.

For the full story, watch the video above.

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