Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and relates to his last answer. I also refer the minister to his statement on ABC Radio on Friday, where the minister said about his new taxpayer funded advertisements:

Well they’re very plain, they’re very simple, they direct people to a phone number for the Workplace Information Line ... there is no spin in these ads, it is purely informative.

Minister, isn’t it the case that the script for those who answer the calls on the information line states:

... at no time is an adviser to use the phrase ‘I don’t know’ when answering the caller’s query. Rather, advisers should say that ‘this is the information that is currently available; we can offer you a call back when further information becomes available’.

How can the minister say his advertisements are ‘informative’ when there is no information to be provided?

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