Helen Coonan (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts) Share this | Hansard source

It is interesting that Senator Sherry seems to have attributed to himself the knowledge of exactly what the board thinks about Mr Cousins and about this process. It is not the case that this government has any concerns, as the majority shareholder, with the appointment of Mr Cousins. The government will be supporting Mr Cousins for the reasons we have outlined in the prospectus. The fact that the government might have a different view from Telstra about some matters, including regulatory matters, certainly in no way derogates from Mr Cousins’s suitability. We will be continuing with our nomination and we will be supporting his nomination at the AGM quite irrespective of what Labor thinks.