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

(—) (): I think the most recent statistics in fact give the lie to your assertion, because the number of Australians in part-time employment in October of this year—which are the most recent figures available, of course—was 3,812,000, compared to 3,844,000 in the previous month in September 2016. So there has been a slight decrease in the number of people in part-time employment, month-on-month, over the past month. But that, with respect, is scarcely the point. As I tried to point out to you in my answer to your initial question, casual employment and part-time employment are the preferred options of many Australians, and flexibility in the workplace, including flexibility in the choices people make, is a very important value. (Time expired)