Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Given the Prime Minister's statement yesterday that he supports the decision to cut penalty rates, can the Prime Minister confirm that his colleague the Liberal member for Forde was reflecting government policy when he said in relation to the decision to cut penalty rates, 'The reductions are minor'? For this Prime Minister, is a $77 a week pay cut just a minor reduction?

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

The decision to make cuts to penalty rates in a number of awards was a decision taken by the Fair Work Commission and nobody else, and honourable members opposite know that very well. It was taken by the Fair Work Commission, and that principle of backing the Fair Work Commission, backing the independent umpire, was a rare moment, you might say, of unity between the government and the opposition. Right through the election, we were accused of wanting to undermine the Fair Work Commission—utterly false—

Ms Husar interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Lindsay has been warned!

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

but we said we would support the independent umpire because they have done the work. For example, the public holiday rate under the Registered and Licensed Clubs Award 2010 has been left at 250 per cent by the Fair Work Commission. Under the Pharmacy Industry Award, the rate on public holidays for full-time workers has been reduced from 250 to 225 per cent. Now, that is a decision by the Fair Work Commission. It is not a decision that the government has made. The government has not had the evidence before it, the submissions before it, to make the decision. This was a series of decisions properly delegated by the law, by a reference from the honourable member's leader, the Leader of the Opposition, to an expert body. That is what was done. That was their decision.

Equally, it was the decision of the Leader of the Opposition as a union leader, again and again, when he actually cut penalty rates, when he cut them away, when he made that decision. He made the decision directly and put workers' penalty rates to one side in return for other concessions, and as we know they included payments to the Australian Workers Union—payments to the Australian Workers Union which were not disclosed to the workers when they voted, or whether it was a clean event. And that was the subject of the royal commission.

Some of these employers saved millions and millions of dollars as a result of these deals that the Leader of the Opposition did. Now, he did them; he can defend them. He no doubt had a reason for doing it. His reasons were found wanting in the royal commission. But, just like he made that decision to cut penalty rates in respect to the workers he was representing, the Fair Work Commission made their decision. The government's decision is simply to support the independent umpire, which had been the Labor Party's view until January of this year, when they walked away from it. (Time expired)