Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to the statement of Kathy Jackson, National Secretary of the Health Services Union:

Our members are working class people. They earn less than $20 an hour doing work that nobody else wants to do. These people are salt of the earth and they deserve answers.

Will the Prime Minister now provide answers by detailing all meetings, discussions and email communications between the Prime Minister or her office and the New South Wales Labor Party that relate to the gift or loan made by the Labor Party to the member for Dobell?

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

Firstly, I say to the shadow minister for education that I was a little amused this morning when I saw the Leader of the Opposition on ABC24 News Breakfast saying that, if question time had proceeded yesterday, he had lots of questions on jobs. I thought stand-up comedy finished with the Leader of the Opposition!

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

Exactly! Come in, spinner! I thank the shadow Treasurer for confirming in this parliament that they do not care about—

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The Prime Minister was asked a perfectly serious question that goes to her truthfulness and she is completely dismissing it. This is a very serious matter. I would ask you to ensure that she answers the questions.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is a requirement under the standing orders for the Prime Minister to be directly relevant to the question, and I will listen to the answer. There is also a requirement under the standing orders for members not to interrupt. I would suggest that they do that—that the interjections cease—and that the Prime Minister ignore the interjections. The Prime Minister will respond to the question.

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

I thank the shadow Treasurer for laying bare the political aspirations of the Liberal Party: all about themselves; they never cared anything about the jobs of the Australian people. And to the shadow minister who asked the question—

Mr Pyne interjecting—

Maybe, instead of screaming, he might like to listen to the answer.

Mr Pyne interjecting—

No—of course, he wants to keep screaming because that is what they are like as well: not serious about their roles in this parliament. To the shadow minister who asked the question, I would say this: he has asked me a question about the decision of the—

An honourable member: Get to it!

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Cowan, or whoever it was, will be very careful. The Prime Minister has the call.

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

He has asked me a question about the decision of the New South Wales branch of the Labor Party in relation to the payment of some expenses. I would refer the shadow minister to the statement of the Liberal Party's Victorian director on 5 May 2011 where he was dealing with the question of payment by the Liberal Party of expenses in a defamation incurred by a Liberal member, where he said:

The suggestion that there is any conflict of interest for the Liberal Party to support one of its parliamentarians in a defamation action arising from his public duties, when in opposition, is ridiculous.

Then, of course, Premier Baillieu was also questioned about the matter. I say to the Liberal Party: what this proves is the stinking hypocrisy which is driving it each and every day. The Liberal Party paying defamation expenses for a member—apparently that is okay. A Liberal Party member is charged with criminal offences. We do the right thing and make no presumptions about her guilt or innocence, and they ask us to do that, but in relation to the member for Dobell they are not prepared to do the same. The Liberal Party: always prepared to throw allegations of cover-ups against other people, but the Leader of the Opposition knew for months that one of his members had been criminally charged and said nothing about it until he was asked. The Liberal Party: always very keen to say that the member for Dobell should surrender his committee chair position, but a Liberal Senator who is charged with criminal offences is apparently fine.

Frankly, what really needs to happen here are common standards, and common standards require the following: if people are under investigation then we make no assumptions and we allow that investigation to take its course. That is what we have been prepared to do every day regarding a member of parliament in the other place. That is what the Leader of the Opposition should do regarding the member for Dobell. Anything else is hypocrisy that is fuelled by the opposition's political interest. As the shadow Treasurer has just laid plain before this parliament, the Liberal Party does not care about anything else—not about jobs, not about health, not about education, not about the economy, not about anything else—except one job and that is a job for the Leader of the Opposition. While they are there, mired in their hypocrisy, we will get on with the job of leading this nation. (Time expired)

Sophie Mirabella (Indi, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Innovation, Industry and Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You are leading this nation into thousands of job losses.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order!