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A couple of different stories are coalescing this morning, as new gender wage gap figures are released, and the Coalition faces criticism that its bid to ban working from home would negatively affect working mothers.

Earlier this morning, Minister for Women and the Public Service Katy Gallagher said the Coalition’s proposal would be a step backwards for working women, while the latest Workplace Gender Equality Agency’s report finds Australian women earn $28,425 less per year than men on average.

Dutton was asked about Gallagher’s criticism, to which he replied that “there are plenty of opportunities around job sharing and there are some jobs that are appropriate to be home-based”.

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“People in the suburbs [who] are paying for their wages, expect the public servants to do the work they are being paid for,” he said.

A reporter doubled down on this point, asking if Dutton meant job sharing was an option instead of flexible working-from-home arrangements. Job sharing would, by nature, involve a part-time workload, while a flexible working-from-home arrangement could allow for a full-time role.

“I’m saying they are both available. There are public servants at the moment in Canberra refusing to go back to work and now being paid in some cases over $200,000 a year,” Dutton said, suggesting struggling families working two or three jobs would say that arrangement is not fair.

Read more about the debate here.