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

I know the honourable member and his friends opposite want to represent this decision by the independent umpire, whose independence the Labor Party has always, before very recently, championed and defended—I know they want to present this as a decision of the government; it is not. It is a decision of the Fair Work Commission. It is a decision of the independent umpire. It is a decision of the Fair Work Commission. They know that. Australian know that.

What they do know, also, is that when the Leader of the Opposition had the opportunity to make decisions about penalty rates himself he was all too ready to trade them away. We have another good example here between a company called Cut & Fill Pty Ltd—it would be quite an apt name for the Leader of the Opposition; 'Cut & Fill'—and the Australian Workers' Union. In this agreement, signed by the Leader of the Opposition some years ago back in 2003, he—

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