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

To the question from the opposition I say: this continues the pattern of yesterday and it continues its pattern of seeking to mislead the Australian people over this dispute for its base political interests, because it is obviously softening up the ground to try to sell to the Australian people a reintroduction of Work Choices.

Given the fact that the member who asked the question is misleading and in a pattern of misleading, I refer him to something that happened yesterday morning. That is when Alan Joyce went on Radio National. The member who asked the question should have known about this interview—indeed, he probably did—but there is this pattern of misleading going on. There was the article in the Daily Telegraph yesterday morning that suggested that somehow Alan Joyce was waiting for a call from me. Alan Joyce was asked about this on Radio National yesterday. The question from the interviewer Fran Kelly was: 'Alan Joyce, is it true that the fleet would never have been grounded if the Prime Minister had taken your call'—

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