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

‘Absolutely’—thank you, Member for O’Connor. He has been opposed to penalty rates since 1981 and the Liberal Party are basically opposed to penalty rates today because they have embraced Work Choices rip-offs. I thank the member for O’Connor for that verification that, should the Liberal Party ever form government again in this country, penalty rates for workers around the country would be gone. The member for O’Connor has been campaigning for it since 1981, and obviously the Leader of the Opposition has endorsed his position.

When it comes to the question of who advises the Leader of the Opposition on these questions, we have the member for O’Connor. The one thing you would say about the member for O’Connor—there would be quite a few things you could say, but the one thing you would be able to say during the daytime and in a public place—is that at least he is consistent and clear in what he stands for. I will give him that: at least he is consistent and clear.

I would say that that approach stands in stark contrast to the very sloppy approach of the shadow Treasurer. Of course, the shadow Treasurer was the salesperson for Work Choices for the Howard government. He was there, day after day, justifying the rip-offs as they came to light. The shadow Treasurer was the salesperson for Work Choices. But, in what is a really a curiously sloppy performance by the shadow Treasurer, he had a bad week last week. He was away, X-Files style, talking about the G20 leftist conspiracy and that Angela Merkel—he had always had his doubts about her. It led him to muse on the nature of left-wing leadership around the world.

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