Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

I thank all honourable members for their contribution to the debate, and I shall not delay the House with a lengthy summing-up. Telstra employees currently accrue long service leave entitlements under the Long Service Leave (Commonwealth Employees) Act 1976. Long service leave entitlements accrued up to the date that the Commonwealth ceases to have a controlling interest in Telstra are already protected by the Telstra (Transition to Full Private Ownership) Act 2005. Telstra has requested that they be allowed to remain under the Long Service Leave (Commonwealth Employees) Act provisions for a further three years and the government has agreed to meet the request; hence this bill.

In relation to the in-principle amendment, moved by the honourable member for Perth, the Minister for Finance and Administration has previously announced that the government would not be maintaining Commonwealth Superannuation Act coverage of Telstra employees after Telstra is sold. As Minister Minchin advised the Senate on 11 October 2006:

The Commonwealth is clearly entirely within its rights—as was the then Labor government—to stop membership of the CSS. Once the company is in majority private hands, that responsibility should no longer fall on taxpayers but on the new owners of the business.

The Australian government has already paid out in full its liabilities to Telstra Super to the tune of $3.125 billion. When the Australian government majority ownership of Telstra ceases, superannuation arrangements for Telstra employees will be a matter for Telstra and its workforce.

Finally, in closing, the previous speaker, the honourable member for Batman, was talking about job losses in Australia. Can I remind him and the House that, in the last 10 years, 1.9 million new jobs have been created in Australia. Indeed, in the last six months, 205,000 jobs have been created, 184,000 of which are full-time jobs. I commend the bill to the House.

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