Australia inquiry says former PM Morrison misled cabinet on debt recovery scheme

FILE PHOTO: Australian incumbent Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks during the second leaders' debate of the 2022 federal election campaign at the Nine studio in Sydney, Australia May 8, 2022. Alex Ellinghausen/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

SYDNEY (Reuters) - An Australian inquiry into an automated welfare debt recovery programme said on Friday former Prime Minister Scott Morrison, in an earlier ministerial role, had misled the cabinet about the scheme.

The report also recommended unnamed individuals be referred for civil and criminal prosecution over the "robodebt" programme designed to ensure welfare recipients were not under-reporting their income and over-receiving government payments.