Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. Is the minister aware of new evidence of deceptive claims being made in relation to Australia’s workplace relations debate? What is the response of the government to these deceptive claims?

Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Fisher for his question. It is true that there are misleading and deceptive claims that are being made, in particular by the union movement and by the Leader of the Opposition.

To give you another example of this misleading and deceptive campaign, in January this year the Leader of the Opposition established a task force to seek out the so-called adverse impact of the Work Choices legislation, even before it came into operation on 27 March. That task force reported back to the Leader of the Opposition in June of this year and so-called evidence from this report was then used to ask a question of the Prime Minister in this place in June by the member for Gorton. The basis of the question put to the Prime Minister was that this was evidence from an ordinary Australian worker. In the list of witnesses in the report this so-called ordinary Australian worker is listed as a local sporting coach, and elsewhere in the report it is said that he is an electrical worker.

With some investigation, it turns out that the facts are somewhat different to what the member for Gorton put to the Prime Minister on that day. In fact, this so-called ordinary Australian worker turns out to be an official of the Electrical Trades Union. If you go to the website of the Electrical Trades Union, not only is this official listed but there is a colour photograph of him. But this of course, according to the member for Gorton and the task force, is an ordinary Australian worker. I table that website from the Electrical Trades Union. This is just one of a series of similar descriptions that are made in this bogus report from the Labor Party’s task force, where they have union officials—

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Brendan O’Connor interjecting

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Gorton is warned!

Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

and Labor Party members posing as ordinary Australian workers. It is a bogus report.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Brendan O’Connor interjecting

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Gorton will excuse himself under standing order 94(a).

The member for Gorton then left the chamber.

Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What we have here is a campaign orchestrated by the Leader of the Opposition to mislead and deceive the Australian public and indeed to attempt to mislead this House in the process. That is an indictment upon the behaviour of the Leader of the Opposition; it is a deliberate campaign. What we see through this incident, and other incidents in this place—

Lindsay Tanner (Melbourne, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Tanner interjecting

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Melbourne is warned!

Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

is a pathology of behaviour that makes the Leader of the Opposition unfit for high office in this country. That is what it does. Let us not forget that the Leader of the Opposition has never condemned the campaign of Sharan Burrow, the President of the ACTU, who said, ‘We want the family of a dead or injured worker to help our campaign.’ That has never been condemned by the Leader of the Opposition. He can carry on with this silly laughter here, but if he had any fair dinkumness about him he would come out and condemn Sharan Burrow for this distasteful, in fact disgusting, comment that she made.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The level of interjections is far too high.

Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

He has never condemned the ACTU for their false and misleading campaign. Indeed, when the independent Office of Workplace Services comes out and shows how false and misleading this campaign was, all we get from the Leader of the Opposition is a comment about snivelling little liars. That is how he describes public servants in Australia who are doing their jobs. This is an indictment once again on the Leader of the Opposition. It shows once again that he is totally unfit for high office in Australia.