Robodebt inquiry commissioner praises ‘committed’ coverage by Guardian Australia

Catherine Holmes SC acknowledges role of social media in giving access to evidence while criticising other outlets for ‘patchy’ coverage

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The former Queensland supreme court chief justice overseeing the robodebt royal commission has singled out reporters from Guardian Australia and the Saturday Paper for their “committed” coverage of the evidence, calling it a “remarkably useful and important public service”, while criticising many other media outlets for their “patchy” coverage.

On the final day of hearings into the former Coalition government’s Centrelink income compliance program, just before closing statements, the commissioner, Catherine Holmes SC, took a few minutes to make observations about media coverage of the proceedings.

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