Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury residents who received shonky debt notices from the Morrison Government’s Centrelink scandal have been urged by Federal Member for Macquarie Susan Templeman to join a class action.

Then-treasurer Scott Morrison was the architect of the Robodebt scheme, which targeted millions of Australians over four years, to extract $1.5 billion in debts from students, pensioners and other welfare recipients.

“This was an illegal program and the Morrison Government has been forced to pay back more than 370,000 people a total of $721 million, so far,” Ms Templeman said.

“When Shadow Minister for Government Services and the NDIS, Bill Shorten, joined me online for a virtual town hall on June 30, he said 60,000 people had joined a class action against the government over this scheme.

“As Mr Shorten said, the Morrison Government has been forced to announce it will refund the population of Wollongong and Newcastle combined. It’s almost the population of Tasmania.

“This is massive.

“I thanked him on behalf of the Robodebt victims in Macquarie for the work he has done to expose the scheme.

“It has caused so much grief, and I have been approached by people in our community who have said they are so pleased there could be some justice for those who were wrongly targeted.”

Mr Shorten said the scheme “is not just unfair but I think it’s illegal”.

“There’s 60,000 people who’ve registered, and as a result of the class action with Gordon Legal, that’s going to go to court on September 21 or thereabouts,” Mr Shorten said.

“I would just say to anyone in the community; give Gordon Legal a ring. If this government says it owes people $721 millio