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

And the hapless parliamentary secretary interjects, 'We're not rejecting anything'. Can I remind her of recommendation 50:

The Panel recommends that the FW Act be amended to change the name of Fair Work Australia to a title which more aptly denotes its functions. It is recommended that the new title contain the word ‘Commission’ and that it no longer contain the words ‘Fair Work’.

And yet here we have the parliamentary secretary misleading this place and saying that you accept their recommendations, that you accept their body of work and that you have not rejected one of their recommendations. Clearly, you have. They have said that it should no longer contain the words 'Fair Work Australia', and the parliamentary secretary is now playing school debating tactics, saying, 'Oh no, we are not rejecting anything; we are only accepting in part.' You had already covered it, Parliamentary Secretary, and the roosters ought to be crowing, because we know what happens when there are three denials that are untrue. We now find that you are rejecting the panel's recommendations. Possibly, Parliamentary Secretary, you can explain to us how the government has expressed its confidence in this report and not rejected any of the panel's recommendations by retaining the words 'fair work' in the title when the specific recommendation is that the new title no longer contain the words 'fair work'.