PM to face more questions about her past

19 Aug 2012, 5:07 pm   -   Source: AAP

Education, the economy, asylum seekers and Julia Gillard's past are all set to be on the political agenda when parliament resumes this week.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard will seek to shift the political focus to education and the economy this week but she's likely to be dogged by fresh questions about her former career as a lawyer.

She will also be under pressure to give a clearer picture of just how the government's new border protection regime will work and when it will start sending asylum seekers to Nauru and Papua New Guinea's Manus Island.

Ms Gillard is to deliver a speech about the Gonski schools funding review to the Independent Schools Forum on Monday morning.

But she has decided the government will not deliver its official response to the review this week as expected, despite having had it since last November.

The opposition and Greens have both criticised the delay in the government's response.

Ms Gillard is also scheduled to deliver a speech about productivity at a business function on Monday.

Treasurer Wayne Swan foreshadowed the speech on Sunday, saying the debate about productivity should be about more than just industrial relations.

But the coalition is likely to use the week in parliament to step up the pressure on Ms Gillard to answer questions about the circumstances surrounding her resignation from prominent law firm Slater & Gordon 17 years ago.

News Limited has reported that Ms Gillard quit the firm as a direct result of a secret internal investigation into controversial work she'd done for her then boyfriend, a union boss accused of corruption.

The new claims - made by a former partner at the firm, Nick Styant-Browne - led to a fiery exchange between Ms Gillard and an interviewer on Sunday television.

"This is just nonsense and a distraction from the important work I've got to do as prime minister," she said.

"I did nothing wrong. If you've got an allegation that I did something wrong then put it."

But Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says Ms Gillard should explain herself further.

"I think there are real issues that the prime minister needs to address, and if she would like to make a statement to the parliament this week the coalition will gladly facilitate it," Mr Abbott told reporters in Sydney.

Asylum-seeker policy will also continue to be high on the agenda.

The government is expected to give a clearer picture of how long it will take to restart offshore processing on Nauru and Manus Island after its defence reconnaissance teams return home on Monday evening.

The teams have found the facilities on both islands in disrepair, meaning the government's aim to start sending asylum seekers offshore within the next few weeks could prove unrealistic.

Meanwhile, the Greens say the Senate is expected on Thursday to start debating their same-sex-marriage legislation.

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