George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr President. I refer the minister to comments made by the Prime Minister on 17 October when, in relation to the Qantas dispute, she said, 'The last thing I am going to do is pick sides.' I also refer to the Prime Minister's press conference last Saturday when she said, 'I'm not going to involve myself in making statements about either side of the dispute.' Given those remarks, can the minister explain why the Prime Minister and other senior ministers labelled Qantas's action 'extreme' but failed to utter a breath of criticism of the unions' campaign to, in the words of the president of the TWU, Mr Tony Sheldon, 'bake Qantas slowly'?