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

Straight-talking Tony—such an honest man!

Ms Thomas said the statement made by Mr Abbott in the Parliament that the nurses union “says the government’s scheme … is worse than Workchoices..” has never been made by an official of the Australian Nursing Federation.

It ‘has never been made’. And Ms Thomas, a representative of nurses, went on to say:

“In a speech about being honest with the Australian people he put words in the mouths of nurses that we never said.

“This statement then must be corrected or he has misled the Australian Parliament,” …

That is a statement from the Australian Nursing Federation.

With this Leader of the Opposition we are dealing with a man so arrogant and so out of touch that he wants to put irons in the hands of Australian women and he wants to put words in the mouths of Australian nurses. He should do the decent thing and apologise for this statement which lacks honesty. Each and every day, Australians are coming to know that this man represents a risk to the economy and represents a risk to the truth, and he certainly represents a risk because he wants Work Choices back.

See this speech in context