Jason Clare (Blaxland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. Would the minister detail the waste and excessive promotional material associated with previous government policies? What steps are being taken to recycle that material?

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yesterday the Prime Minister and I sought to ensure the destruction of the remaining Work Choices propaganda of the Howard-Costello government. We arranged for the recycling of 436,000 Work Choices booklets. We made sure that they were taken off to the recyclers so that they could be turned into things more useful—things like scribble paper for children. There were some suggestions from the media about other uses that these paper products could be put to, but I will not go there. But we did ensure that these booklets would be recycled. Of course, this was part of the $121 million propaganda blitz of the Howard-Costello government to try and sell its grossly unfair Work Choices laws, which stripped basic working conditions away from Australian families. We know that even that government thought it was best to start shredding these booklets, because 3½ million of them were in fact sent off to the recyclers before the election. The waste of taxpayers’ money was just amazing.

I have to say that I allowed myself to believe yesterday that the Prime Minister and I had brought an end to the scourge of Work Choices propaganda in this country, just as we are committed to bringing an end to the scourge of Work Choices itself. I had allowed myself to believe yesterday that we had achieved that goal, but overnight I have discovered more. Whilst the Four Corners program was exhibiting Liberal rats in the ranks, I found 100,000 Work Choices propaganda mousepads lying around from the days of the Howard-Costello government. I am going to ask the House to help me with a very difficult issue here, which is this: one can easily recycle booklets; it is less clear what one can do to recycle mousepads. What I am committed to doing—

Wilson Tuckey (O'Connor, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. My point of order is this: to assist her in this matter, she can send them out with her free computers.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for O’Connor knows that that was not a point of order. A point of order is not an invitation for competing in comedy hour with the chair.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Can I reassure you that it is not my intention to scare small children through that distribution of these mousepads. They would obviously be very worried about their parents’ working conditions if this turned up at their school. I do have a dilemma, which is what to do with these 100,000 mousepads. It is my intention to send them to the supporters of Work Choices, so there are 65 on their way to the opposition members in the House of Representatives and there are 38 on their way to the opposition senators. Now I have 99,897 left and I cannot find another Work Choices supporter to send them to. If anybody has any suggestions about what to do with the remainder of the 100,000 mousepads, I would be very grateful to receive them. In sending these mousepads to the opposition today, I do not know if I have made an error, because I watched the press conference of the Deputy Leader of the Opposition at lunchtime today.

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Yesterday you raised the issue of using props in the chamber. Again the Deputy Prime Minister is using props. Unless she wants to play second row, I would ask her to put the props away.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Deputy Prime Minister.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am not sure whether I have sent the Work Choices mousepads to the right people. I watched the press conference of the Deputy Leader of the Opposition today. I have to say that I listened carefully but, having listened to that press conference, I have no idea what on earth is going on. This is the same Deputy Leader of the Opposition who said that she was going to defend AWAs with a no-disadvantage test to the death. She was reported in the newspaper in quotes as saying that she would not be ‘complicit in a downturn’—

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I should not be misquoted by the Deputy Prime Minister. If she wishes to quote where I said that I will defend the right of employees and employers to enter into individual agreements—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Deputy Leader of the Opposition will resume her seat. If the Deputy Leader of the Opposition feels aggrieved by misquotes, she has other forms of the House that she can use. I say to the Deputy Prime Minister that she is verging on debating the answer.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Well, I read the newspaper reports and some of our friends upstairs have them.

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. It was a specific question in relation to the marketing of Work Choices. The Deputy Prime Minister was not asked about alternative views and I ask you to bring her back to the question that she was asked. If she cannot answer her own questions, we are happy to take over.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Based on the five words that were uttered since the previous interruption, it was a bit hard for me to know where the response was going. The Deputy Prime Minister knows that she is required to be relevant.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On the question of marketing Work Choices, of course, Work Choices was the policy of the Howard-Costello government. We need to ask, ‘Who is it the policy of now?’ We know the Deputy Leader of the Opposition wanted AWAs with a no-disadvantage test. Now she does not know whether she is going to amend the bill, whether she is not going to amend the bill, whether she is going to amend it in the Senate, whether she is not going to amend it in the Senate—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Deputy Prime Minister will resume her seat. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It’s horrible, isn’t it?

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Deputy Leader of the Opposition has the call.

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I raise a point of order on relevance. The Deputy Prime Minister was asked about the marketing of brochures including mousepads; she was not asked about any alternative views. That was not part of the question, and I would ask you to bring her back to the question and adhere to the requirement of relevance.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Deputy Prime Minister will bring her answer to a close.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, Work Choices is horrible and you are in a horrible mess. Yes, that is absolutely true.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Deputy Prime Minister is not assisting.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On the question of the mousepads, can I say this: we are now in a situation where we do not know whether you stand behind this propaganda or the policy that led to it, but what we suspect is that—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Deputy Prime Minister will resume her seat.