Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr President. It is good to see the government catching up to the opposition. My question is to Senator Evans, the Minister representing the Prime Minister. I refer the minister to remarks made by the Prime Minister, Ms Gillard, when she said:

Bob Brown—

and I ask this question in his absence—

is pretty much the most calculating politician in Canberra. He’s not an archangel of moral force. He’s a bloke who wakes up every day and says ‘how can I chisel a bit of political advantage today?’

and to the Prime Minister’s further statement on the weekend:

I’m not in any way resiling from one word in that statement—not one word.

Does the minister agree with the Prime Minister and would the minister care to offer any examples of where the Greens have chiselled political advantage in the Labor-Greens alliance?