Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Hansard source

It ill behoves a union dominated Australian Labor Party in this place to talk about hardworking employees being dismissed when the trade union’s record of doing exactly that has been in the media day after day after day during the parliamentary recess. Indeed, within my relatively small home state of Tasmania, there are at least two such places. So, if Senator Wong, the Labor Party and the trade union movement want to get in on this debate, they have to come into it with clean hands—which they clearly do not have. Of course, to make their assertion, who do they rely on? Anthony Forsyth. Interesting. I wonder who used to engage Anthony Forsyth. A guess: it might be a trade union—the Transport Workers Union? Senator Conroy can confirm that I am spot-on.

These independent reports that the Labor Party keep flicking out time after time are not independent reports. They are from trade union operatives, and it is on that basis that I would invite all Australians who have the misfortune to be listening in to this broadcast to consider what the actual facts are. The actual facts are that the Labor Party want to concentrate on this union operative’s report because they do not want to talk about the fantastic employment results for the month of August.