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

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to her statement today that she provided legal advice for the incorporation of the AWU Workplace Reform Association. When the Prime Minister, as a partner at Slater and Gordon, advised on the incorporation of the AWU Workplace Reform Association, what steps did she take to ensure that using the name of the union would not breach section 8 of the Associations Incorporation Act regarding the misleading use of names for associations?

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

My role as a lawyer was to provide legal advice acting on my client's instructions. If the Registrar of Incorporated Associations forms a view that such an association being incorporated was in breach of the relevant legislation then that would be a matter for them. I remind the Deputy Leader that my role was to provide legal advice. The entity that determined to incorporate this association is the Western Australian registrar of incorporated associations. If she is contending that the registrar of incorporated associations did not act in accordance with their legislation then that is a matter she should take up with them.