Nick Sherry (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Banking and Financial Services) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Why did the minister not make any attempt to explain why Mr Cousins is going to be appointed, when he lost $4 billion at Optus? That is on the public record. Is the Australian Foundation Investment Company’s managing director, Mr Barker, right when he says that ultimately from an investor’s point of view we want to know that the board is going to function after the sell-down? Does the government seriously believe that Telstra board members will be able to work with Mr Cousins, a man they view to be a government spy? Will the nomination of Mr Cousins be a government endorsed poison pill that will sabotage the smooth operation of the Telstra board for years to come?