Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Hansard source

I am delighted at the outset to table a statement from the secretary of the Department for Employment who has indicated that the story published in today's Australian was incorrect. Also, what I can indicate is that the journalist concerned, in asking my office about these matters on Friday, was told in a statement that the Department of Employment has confirmed that the allegations made to The Australian are not correct. Despite being told that, the journalist did not seek to check with the department and now the department has in fact issued a statement which concludes with the statement: 'nor did the minister's office ever'—and I stress the word 'ever'—'ask the department to publish them'—'them' being the figures. What is more, the beginning of the sentence is: 'The department offered the minister's office these figures.' So it was at the department's initiative that some figures were prepared, but we never asked for them—they were offered by the department—and we never asked for them to be published. The departmental secretary has made this crystal clear.

Having said that, let there be no doubt that, if the coalition's policies were implemented, many thousands of our fellow Australians would be relieved from the social and economic consequences of being on the unemployment scrap heap. We would invite those opposite to join with us in the task to create more employment opportunities, which the coalition policies so clearly do but which have been so ruthlessly blocked in this chamber by Labor and the Greens.