Lee Rhiannon (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Interesting comments, Minister. You are still using quite slippery language and avoiding answering the questions. You talk about disclosing one's background, but you do not come in here and tell us about your work with Freehills and how you pursued construction unions, which is not a dissimilar approach to what you are showing now. Again, your double standards show time and time again. You cannot get away from that very clear statement from Commissioner Julius Roe in his final recommendations in the EBA. Again, I remind you that you said that the Fair Work Commission is the independent umpire, and a recommendation accepted by the government, the CFA and the union is an agreement. You can come up with all the language that you might have used when you were a solicitor, but it is clear—

Senator Cameron interjecting—

I am very happy to acknowledge those comments. You were giving full backing to the Fair Work Commission until you were caught out with some very clear statements that do not suit your line of argument. It is, again, your inability to answer the question because, if you are answering the question, you are either agreeing with the very clear statements coming from the Fair Work Commission or you are acknowledging that you are wrong, so I guess it is not surprising that you come up with the slippery language. But, to move on, Minister, can you guarantee that no police service and no ambulance service will be affected by this bill?