George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister said what he said, and the point I am making through you, Mr President, to Senator Cameron is that what the Prime Minister was saying was that he was supporting a decision made some four weeks earlier by the Fair Work Commission, as ought all members of parliament. People can have their views about whether they would have wished the decision to be otherwise than it was, but what no member of parliament has the option to do is to say, 'We refuse to accept or to support the decision of an independent umpire.' It is particularly implausible and unimpressive coming from the lips of Labor senators who actually established this body for the very purpose of being an independent umpire. If you establish a body—an arbitral tribunal—to be an independent umpire, you are bound to accept its decisions, as the Prime Minister indicated, in the interview which you have referenced, that he did.