Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Why does the Prime Minister continue to claim that the government had no notice of the grounding of the Qantas fleet when Mr Alan Joyce has just said:

We made it very clear … that we could ground the entire airline and that this was a real possibility and it could happen at very short notice with immediate effect, due to the nature of an airline and requirements to minimise operational risk.

Is the Prime Minister claiming that Mr Alan Joyce is misleading people?

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

The minister has made it very clear what the circumstances were here in terms of discussion between Qantas and the government—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

And no amount of yelling from an opposition that does not want to hear the facts about this dispute and is engaging in its own acts of not being straightforward—anybody who saw the Leader of the Opposition's press conference earlier today saw a man who was clearly shuffling around not sure what to say next. So we are still awaiting the full version on the public record of the opposition and Qantas. So, before we hear little bits of jeering from an opposition that has not been straightforward itself, let us be very clear about what the government has said in this place, and beyond, over the—

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

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Standing order 100(d) states that there shall be no imputations in questions, but the Practice also says that the question of imputation shall be applied to answers as well. Clearly, the Prime Minister is making imputations about the truthfulness of the Leader of the Opposition, and she should desist forthwith.

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

The member for Mackellar will resume her seat. There are other avenues open. I think that the member for McKellar is actually cherry picking portions of the Practice. If only she would make learned submissions to the Procedures Committee that she could convince both sides of the House to agree to I would have some sympathy for her case. The Prime Minister has the call.

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

What I was saying about the things that the government said in this place during the course of question time today, yesterday and also outside this place—and the Minister for Transport has made this very clear—is that the prospect of Qantas locking out its staff and immediately grounding its aircraft was not raised with the government. It was notified to the government on Saturday. As a result of the notification on Saturday the government took the action which caused the industrial dispute to come to an end so that Qantas planes could get back in the sky, and they have been back in the sky since yesterday afternoon.

We do understand that the opposition has a different view from us about this. We are in the world of industrial relations balance, of looking after the interests of employers and employees, of caring about the travelling public. We are in the world of competently managing when there is disputation and bringing it to an end. The opposition is in the world of not criticising Qantas, of not being concerned at all about the travelling public, of always denying the rights of working people and of doing whatever it is told to do by employers. That was its track record in government and it continues to be its track record in opposition. And I know that the Leader of the Opposition has been disappointed in the past few days. The only people in Australia unhappy when Fair Work Australia ended industrial action were the members of the Liberal Party sitting opposite. The only people in Australia unhappy when the Reserve Bank announced its interest rate cut were the members opposite. You could see the disappointment written all over their faces.