Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Corporate Governance and Responsibility) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Minchin, the Minister for Finance and Administration. Does the minister recall saying on the Sunday program that the government was ‘contemplating some form of entitlement for existing Telstra shareholders’? As a result of the minister’s comments, haven’t all major newspapers carried reports to say that existing Telstra shareholders would get a discount on T3 shares? Can the minister now confirm that the government will offer a discount to existing shareholders? Or, if that is not the case, has the minister done anything to correct the misleading media reports? Is the minister aware that stockbroker Mr Ivor Ries has expressed his dismay about the minister’s comments and the media reports, saying that they created ‘chronic uncertainty’ for Telstra and led to the shares trading ‘in an information vacuum’? Is it not the case that the government’s incompetent and panicked announcement of T3 has created ‘chronic uncertainty’ and led to uninformed trading in Telstra shares?