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

I second the motion. The government is still running a protection racket for the member for Dobell and debate should not be gagged. It is imperative that standing orders are suspended to allow the House to take note of this statement from the member for Dobell. While it was more a valedictory than an explanation of the very serious findings against him contained in the 1,100-page report by Fair Work Australia, standing orders should be suspended so that this can be debated in the parliament. That report was based on a three-year investigation, an audit that took evidence, evaluated that evidence and made findings—156 findings of breaches by the member for Dobell out of 165 findings involving the misuse of more than $500,000 of Health Services Union funds for personal gain. The report found that $270,000 had been misused to fund the member for Dobell's 2007 election campaign.

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