Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

I wish to speak briefly on the Paid Parental Leave Amendment Bill 2014 to respond to some remarks made in the debate by member for Fisher earlier today.

The member for Fisher in his remarks suggested that the reason that the Paid Parental Leave Scheme as proposed by the Prime Minister was going ahead, which is not the subject necessarily of these amendments, was because of the influence over the Prime Minister by his chief of staff, Ms Peta Credlin. The member for Fisher suggested that the Paid Parental Leave Scheme as proposed by the Prime Minister had come about because of her influence over him and in order for her to benefit from the scheme in the event that she had a child.

This is a very serious allegation made by the member for Fisher, and I am speaking on the debate because, as the Leader of the House, it is appropriate that somebody senior in the government responds to the suggestions made by the member for Fisher. It is a cowardly statement for him to have made. It is a wrong statement for him to have made and it is an ignorant statement for him to have made. Whether he likes the Paid Parental Leave Scheme policy or not, there are some basic requirements in politics, and one of those is that attacking staff who cannot defend themselves in this place is off limits.

The member for Fisher is a new member to this House, and I am sure that if he had been aware of the basic tenets upon which the parliament operates, he would know that singling staff, whether it is opposition staff members, government staff members or even crossbench staff members—

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