John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I have read very carefully what the board has said about Mr Cousins. I would not regard what it said as a damning indictment, but the board has expressed a different view about Mr Cousins. Let me make it very plain: the government will be voting for Mr Cousins at the annual meeting and I feel reasonably confident that he will be elected at the annual general meeting. I think he will make an outstanding director, he will be utterly independent and he is not a stooge of the government, and the idea that because at some stage somebody has provided a consultancy to the government—or, indeed, any other government—that person is disqualified from future service on the board of a large corporation is absolutely ludicrous. Mr Cousins has an outstanding commercial record—he understands communications far better than many other people who talk about communications in this country—and I think he will bring status and quality to the board when, as I confidently predict, he is elected with a comfortable majority on 14 November.

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