Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker; I second the motion. It is vital that standing orders be suspended to provide the Prime Minister with the opportunity to explain her ongoing solidarity with the member for Dobell and her confidence in him, given the findings of a report that was handed down last Friday and the findings of a report from BDO Kendalls which she has in her possession, and whether she supports the decision of Fair Work Australia to refuse to cooperate with the New South Wales and Victorian fraud squads' investigations into the member for Dobell. And, as was apparent from the minister for employment, aka the minister for union bosses, extraordinary answers in question time, it is necessary for the Prime Minister to explain how it is that the minister for employment can say, 'We are certainly going through that report,' and 'We are certainly drawing it to the attention of the regulatory authorities to which we can,' and then, when he was asked in a later question, 'To which regulatory authorities?' he denied he had even said it. The Prime Minister must come into this House and explain how it is that the Prime Minister can still be so unconcerned with the members of the Health Services Union, particularly given the findings of the HSU No. 1 branch investigation handed down this week.

It was not always the case that the Prime Minister was unconcerned about such matters. In fact, the Prime Minister gave a speech in this House some years ago warning about the evils of credit cards. This demands an explanation from the Prime Minister. With a degree of prescience, the Prime Minister said in that speech:

… we really need to look at what causes people to have credit cards …

Well, the members of the HSU would want to know what caused the member for Dobell to have seven credit cards funded by their union dues which were allegedly spent on escort services. And that is why standing orders must be suspended.

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