Cory Bernardi (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

We are talking about having a bath here. I think that Senator Sherry should take a cold shower or, at the very least, wash his mouth out with soap. To stand up and discuss the relevance of this government’s decision and commitment to sell Telstra as being in the best interests of the Australian people and also in the best interests of the company and then to harangue us because they have stopped us from doing it is appalling, quite frankly. They have made a $50 billion decision. It has cost the Australian taxpayers, the men and women of Australia, over $50 billion because they would not allow us sell Telstra completely in the second tranche. It is a part of the socialist unrepresentative mantra that the Labor Party have been spewing for 10 years now and it is quite offensive.

We hear Senator Sherry talking about majority ownership by government. This is the same bloke who formulated a plan with George Campbell in January 2004 to ensure that no faction had majority control of the Australian Labor Party. He is absolutely opposed to anyone having majority control—except the government and particularly if it is a Labor government. Then they are happy to have control. But as a party and as a government we are committed to releasing these shares and putting Telstra into private ownership so that the Australian government can proceed and fund its superannuation liabilities on an ongoing basis.

We have been shown again today the idiotic policy of the Labor Party. They have put forward the absurd proposition that the problem lies in the regulation. We have been on the record time and time again saying that it is inappropriate for any government to be a major shareholder in an organisation like Telstra as well as being on the regulatory board determining the regulations. It is a preposterous proposition that we should be expected to handle both obligations in a sufficiently adequate manner. It is like putting the unions in charge of the Labor Party. You see the result—