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 revelations in Senate estimates today that Fair Work Australia has paid nearly $1 million in legal fees to the Australian Government Solicitor in its investigation into the member for Dobell, that is now in its fourth year. Prime Minister, how much is too much and how long is too long to keep the member for Dobell in his seat in order to keep the Prime Minister in hers?

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

As I have said in this parliament before, Fair Work Australia is independent. It may be the political culture of members of the Liberal Party to go and try and stand over independent bodies, to go and try and stand over the police, as we saw Senator Abetz flirting with last year, but that is not the culture of our political party, because we understand that, when you set up an independent umpire, you have got to let it do its job. So, to the Manager of Opposition Business, who asked the question, I say, as I have said before in this place and beyond it, the opposition continuously invites me to do something grossly improper in relation to Fair Work Australia, and that is to bully the industrial umpire on how and in what time frame it will conduct an investigation. Well, I will not do the grossly improper thing that the opposition so clearly believes in.