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

Once again the Deputy Leader of the Opposition is confusing roles and responsibilities in relation to this matter. I have never been a member of the AWU. I have never sat on its national executive. I have never participated in the making of a resolution at the national executive as a member of the national executive. These are all matters for the union and the union's governance and conduct. What I did as a solicitor was provide advice on the incorporation of an association. It was the Registrar of Incorporated Associations that then registered it, and of course it was then a matter for the office-bearers and members of the association about how it conducted itself subsequently.

In an analogy that I think the Deputy Leader of the Opposition would understand, it is possible to be a lawyer advising on the incorporation of a company; it is then a question for the relevant company authorities as to whether the company is incorporated, and no person of reason would say that the lawyer who provided advice on the incorporation is therefore somehow responsible for the dealings of the company once it is incorporated. No-one would put that about a company. The situation here is directly analogous to that. I provided legal advice, as I have publicly verified for a long time now, including as recently as in a press conference today.

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