Daryl Melham (Banks, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. When will the minister front the New South Wales Industrial Relations Commission and tell the truth under oath about whether or not he advised Tristar to break the law by sacking workers for the purpose of re-employing them on AWAs?

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The honourable member across the chamber has made an allegation of breaking the law. That is quite out of order. I ask you to rule that way.

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

I believe there was an imputation in the question. The member for Banks might choose to rephrase his question.

Daryl Melham (Banks, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When will the minister front the New South Wales Industrial Relations Commission and tell the truth under oath about whether or not he advised Tristar to sack workers for the purpose of re-employing them on AWAs?

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Cheng Hong appeared before the inquiry that was set up by John Della Bosca into Tristar on a reference to the Industrial Relations Commission of New South Wales. Mr Cheng Hong tabled what I understand to be some notes from another person—they might have been from him as well; it is very difficult to tell according to the transcript—of a conversation that he claimed to have had with me. I will make this point: I never asked Tristar to break the law. I would not ask them to break the law. I asked Tristar, the management of Tristar and Mr Cheng Hong, to pay the workers their full entitlements. I make no apology for that whatsoever. The workers who are left at Tristar have been treated terribly by the management of that company.

The Labor Party voted against our attempts to protect the workers of Tristar. Shame on the Labor Party for that. They voted against it, and then they went down to Marrickville and claimed to the workers that they were the workers’ best friend. Yet in this place previously the Labor Party voted against the 12-month protection for the redundancy entitlements of the workers of Tristar. That is why the Deputy Leader of the Opposition did not ask the question. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition got a backbencher to ask the question because she knows that they have been batting for the management of Tristar and they have been batting against the interests of the workers. Those workers, in the view of the government, have no work to do.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ms Gillard interjecting

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

Order! The Deputy Leader of the Opposition is on thin ice.

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And, in the view of the government, which has commenced through the Office of Workplace Services legal action in the Federal Court—

Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Treasury) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ms King interjecting

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

Order! The member for Ballarat is warned!

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We want to see the workers paid their full entitlements. We make no apology for going in to bat for the workers on this—no apology whatsoever. We stand by what we are doing. We are not going to be sidetracked by the allegations made by Mr Cheng Hong, on unfounded information, in the New South Wales Industrial Relations Commission. To back up my side of the story I have six witnesses who are prepared to verify all that I have said.