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

We will remember this. From time to time, the opposition assist the government in its timetable. We will remember that when you seek time for the carbon tax debate later this year. If when we extend courtesies to the government it is thrown back in our face, let me remind Senator Collins and the Labor Party that it will be remembered. I think she might expect a phone call from the Leader of the Government in the Senate in relation to that very injudicious interjection.

The simple fact is that there are many organisations that do believe that it is appropriate for Fair Work Australia to submit itself to Senate estimates and that the president should appear. There has been a suggestion by Senator Marshall that somehow we sought to go behind the decision making. Can I indicate that we as coalition senators have been very careful not to do so. The only time when it has been asserted—which is on the Hansard record and so I disclose nothing that is not in the public domain—was when a question was asked whether the actual bench decision had been faithfully transcribed. The assertion was that somehow that was going behind the decision. We were in fact talking about the administrative support and not about the decision-making process. But of course that is the sort of sensitivity that we get with the Labor Party with their endless appointment of union hacks to the bench of Fair Work Australia.

Indeed, when we asked whether as President of Fair Work Australia Mr Giudice ever called in people from the bench inquiring as to how they were handling their position and how things were going, without wanting to name names or mention people or find out whether any counselling occurred, we were told, 'Absolutely not; he won't go there.' That is, I must say, a matter of concern in relation to public accountability for this non-judicial body. Let us keep in mind that it is a non-judicial body—something which Fair Work Australia itself acknowledges. We have a situation before us where the Labor Party is desperately trying to hide from accountability the person that is in charge of Fair Work Australia.

When Mr Rudd was on his road to the Lodge he promised the Australian people something I think he referred to as Operation Sunlight: there would be accountability, there would be transparency—there would be no running and hiding under this government. Well, here we have a wonderful example of Labor and the Greens combining to draw the curtains to ensure that any sunlight that there might be will not be allowed to shine in. But what else do you expect? What did the Greens representative do in the House of Representatives yesterday when there was a motion asking that Mr Craig Thomson explain himself? Mr Bandt ran across and voted with Labor to ensure that the member for Dobell would not have to give an explanation. Do you know what I predict, Mr Acting Deputy President? The Greens will, lemming-like, also vote with Labor on this to ensure that there will not be accountability. Just like Mr Bandt voted yesterday to ensure there was no accountability by the member for Dobell, so the Greens senators in this place will vote to ensure that there is no accountability by the President of Fair Work Australia. Make no mistake; we know what the numbers are on the committee. The committee, which has a majority of Labor senators, has always voted to stop Mr Giudice from appearing, and it was a vote of the Senate that required him to appear, as supported by Senator Xenophon and Senator Fielding at the time.

It interesting to note, is it not, that it was the two Independent senators, Senators Xenophon and Fielding, who, confronted with all the arguments, saw the good sense, the good justice and the good governance requirements for Mr Giudice to appear before the Senate estimates. Now we are no longer able to rely on some Independent senators because the Greens have formed this alliance with Labor. They will stop this accountability that we should rightfully expect in relation to Fair Work Australia.

We have seen a number of occasions on which the issues raised at the Senate estimates by Fair Work Australia have been ably, capably handled by the president and he has answered the questions. He did not sidestep the questions and say, 'This is a matter for the registrar; this is a matter for the financial officer.' I think he accepted that there were a number of questions that he himself should be specifically answering, despite the fact he did not want to be there—and I do not blame him; I would imagine most people would not like appearing before Senate estimates, despite the wonderful chairmanship of Senator Marshall and the presence from time to time of the Acting Deputy President in the chair, Senator Cameron.