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 remind the Prime Minister that the Fair Work Act empowers Fair Work Australia to disclose information that may assist in the enforcement of the law of a state. Does the Prime Minister agree with the head of Fair Work Australia, Ms Bernadette O'Neill, that the agency should withhold vital evidence from the New South Wales and Victorian police fraud squad investigations into the member for Dobell?

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

Regarding the member's question, we see question time play out as usual. Here we go with the rest of question time, I predict, because the opposition has clearly run out of any questions about the economy or jobs or health or education or the interests of working Australians, and they are certainly not going to ask anything about company tax today, are they? To the member's question—

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Peter Slipper (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Prime Minister will pause and she will be heard in silence for the balance of her answer.

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

To the member's question, Fair Work Australia is an independent entity. I know the culture of the Liberal Party is to bully others and try and make them do things as it goes about enacting its instruction from Clive Palmer and others.

Peter Slipper (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister will return to the specifics.

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

Ours is to abide by the law. It is an independent agency and it will act as such.

Ms Julie Bishop interjecting—

Peter Slipper (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Deputy Leader of the Opposition will remove herself from the chamber under the provisions of standing order 94(a).

The member for Curtin then left the chamber .

I advise that all honourable members will remain silent for the balance of the Prime Minister's answer. I am quite certain there is something wrong with the PA system. Everyone should have heard that. The Prime Minister has the call. The Prime Minister has concluded.