The robodebt horror was all about boosting the budget. That’s the brutal truth | Katharine Murphy

robodebt was hatched for a simple, clinical purpose: to return money to
the budget at a time when the budget was firmly in the red. Viewed
through the lens of the budget papers, robodebt was about supplying
magic billions to the bottom line so the government wouldn’t have to cut
spending or raise taxes in ways that might have cost it votes.