Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Does the minister agree with Senator Joyce’s comments that, ‘We cannot let Telstra off the leash, and they’re starting to get off the leash a bit at the moment and we’ve got to bring them back into line’? Why is the minister allowing Telstra to slash 25,000 payphones around the country, including two in Senator Joyce’s home town and in places like Thallon, Jericho, Winton, Blackall, Longreach, Warwick and Tara? Why has the minister completely ignored Senator Joyce’s demands for the government to put Telstra back on its leash?