Former PM seen as public servant resigns over the scandal

Scott Morrison has been spotted for the first time since the damning findings of the Robodebt royal commission were handed down, just hours after a senior public servant resigned over the scandal.

The former prime minister was snapped outside his home after returning from a European holiday, the first time the former leader has been seen in public in weeks, though he failed to make any comment to reporters.

His reemergence comes as senior public servant Kathryn Campbell resigned from her $900,000 a year role in the Department of Defence, after facing heavy criticism in the report's findings.

READ MORE: Bureaucrat first scalp from scathing robodebt royal commission report

Campbell's resignation comes after it was found that the department she oversaw did nothing of substance when exposed to the wrongdoings of the program.

Campbell was suspended from her advisory role at the Department of Defence just three days after Commissioner Catherine Holmes tabled her report.

In a statement posted to its website, the Department of Defence said: "Defence can confirm it has accepted Ms Kathryn Campbell's resignation from the department with effect from Friday 21 July 2023."

The department added that it would "not provide further comment on this matter".

Campbell was suspended from her high-ranking role just days ago as an advisor on AUKUS - the trilateral security and defence pact between Australia, the UK and US - after findings from the robodebt inquiry.

Last year, Campbell was appointed as an advisor on the nuclear submarine deal on a salary of $900,000 annually.

READ MORE: Robodebt royal commission report recommends criminal prosecutions

DFAT Secretary Kathryn Campbell

Campbell was head of the Department of Human Services when the controversial debt recovery program began, and was criticised by the royal commission's report.

The former prime minister was also heavily scrutinised in the report, which found Morrison "failed to meet his ministerial responsibility to ensure that Cabinet was properly informed about what the proposal actually entailed and to ensure that it was lawful".

Morrison later hit out at the commission's scathing indictment of the evidence he provided, as well as his ministerial failings.

In a lengthy statement, Morrison, who was social services minister for nine months between 2014 and 2015, took issue with the report.

"I reject completely each of the findings which are critical of my involvement in authorising the scheme and are adverse to me," he wrote.

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Former PM seen as public servant resigns over the scandal
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