Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration) Share this | Hansard source

I am glad Senator Evans is here because Senator Evans has been on talkback radio. He has been criticising anyone who dares disagree—my goodness!—with the government’s position, by demeaning them and saying that clearly they do not have his intellectual capacity and that clearly they do not understand the submission that the government has given to Fair Work Australia.

Let us look at what ACOSS says in response to Senator Evans’s criticism. ACOSS’s chief executive, Cassandra Goldie, has responded that ACOSS has read the submission and that that has prompted ACOSS to accuse the government of backtracking. Community Employers WA is reported as saying the Gillard government has broken its election promise to the community sector and is in danger of seriously jeopardising the future of vital community services, which will disadvantage the community.

And the list goes on. Family Relationship Services Australia has also joined the voices expressing dismay at the government’s position, with Executive Director Samantha Page labelling the government’s submission as short-sighted. She says that, during the election campaign—forget about last year and 2009—there was a clear statement of support for the wage case and an acknowledgement that this would necessitate a review of federal government funding and that this is clearly not reflected in the government’s submission to Fair Work Australia.

Do you think the public believe the paltry excuses set out in the Prime Minister’s blog or in Minister Evans’s press releases about their submission to Fair Work Australia? Absolutely not. I went on line and had a look at the Prime Minister’s blog. The very first response to the blog is from an obvious Labor supporter—or, should I say, possibly now a former supporter of the Labor Party—who goes under the title of ‘LaborValues1’ and is from Redfern, New South Wales. Those on the other side will be glad the blogger is not from Victoria. It was posted yesterday at 4.23 pm.