Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

The decision last Thursday could not have come as a surprise to the Leader of the Opposition, because he was single-handedly responsible for the Fair Work Commission considering the whole issue of penalty rates. It was his decision to ask Fair Work to deal with it, and he made that decision. He made that decision, and he appointed the commissioners. So it was entirely the work of the Leader of the Opposition.

We know, of course, that when he was asked by Neil Mitchell in April last year whether he would accept and support the decision of the independent umpire, he said: 'I will. I'll accept it.' Mitchell said:

Even if they reduce Sunday Penalty rates?

Mr Shorten said:

Well, I said I'd accept the independent tribunal and that makes a big difference between us … and the Liberals.

What we see here is an issue that underlines the lack of integrity, the lack of consistency and the pure hypocrisy of the Leader of the Opposition.

What about this, from 2012? It is a wonderful video. It is Meet the Press:

I think the best way—

said the Leader of the Opposition—

to protect Fair Work Australia is to protect its independence. It's a statutory body, it's doing its investigations and the argument which says that the Government needs to intervene would undermine its independence. It's an independent body.

Well, that is a bold statement—hard to connect to the remarks we just heard. It gets even—

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