18-August-2005
Speeches, Infrastructure
Mr ROBB (2.10 p.m.)—My question is addressed to the Prime Minister. Is the Prime Minister aware of any statement of principle regarding the decision of the Australian government to dispose of its majority holdings in Telstra and, Prime Minister, what is your response to that statement?
Mr HOWARD—I am aware of a number of statements of principle about our decision. But one that has really caught my attention is a statement of principle—and I think it is very well put—that has come from one of the roosters, none other than Senator Conroy, who is famous for his candour and honesty when it comes to taxation measures. He is now famous for what he has said about the principle involved in the government’s decision. Being interviewed on ABC 774 Melbourne, he was asked this question:
If you were to suck the ideology out of it though isn’t it a better thing to have an organisation that is either private or public but not one half of each?
Senator Conroy replied:
It makes no difference to the majority of Australians one way or the other about the ownership structure.
Let us just go back and repeat that: it makes no difference as to the ownership structure. In other words, the person who is the shadow minister in this area does not believe, as a matter of principle, that government ownership of Telstra is a good thing. This statement by Senator Conroy is at complete odds with everything that we have heard from the Leader of the Opposition in the past few days. The Leader of the Opposition has been running around saying that the national interest has been sold out because of this. The reality is that his own spokesman does not believe there is any principle at stake. It is all a question of what is the best way to get cheaper prices and better services.
I say to Senator Conroy: thank you for your candour; thank you for stating the obvious. It makes no difference whether it is publicly owned or privately owned. What does matter is whether you have an overall regime that delivers better prices and more competition. It is undeniably the case that, with the competition model established by this government and with Telstra in full private ownership, the consumers of Australia will get a far better deal. What Senator Conroy again has done is to bell the cat on the humbug of the Leader of the Opposition and his frontbench colleagues.