Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Hansard source

I share Senator Sherry’s concern that the employees of Telstra are appropriately looked after, in the way that all employees of privatised government businesses are looked after. It is a fact that after the sale has occurred the government will no longer be the majority shareholder and so those Telstra employees who are members of the CSS will cease contributory membership. That was provided for in legislation passed last year which authorised the further sale of Telstra and is consistent with longstanding government policy. The contributory membership of the CSS ceases when the government has ceased to control a business. It is exactly the same policy that Labor applied when it sold Qantas in 1993 and CSL in 1994. When a company is no longer in government hands, its employees cannot contribute to the government’s super scheme any longer.

I am advised that currently only 1,788 Telstra employees are still members of the CSS, out of a total workforce of 49,443—so less than four per cent. Those employees will have the option of either joining over 80,000 current and former Telstra employees in the Telstra super scheme or joining another eligible super fund. Most significantly and importantly, the existing benefits of Telstra employees who are still in the CSS will be protected in full. There is no question about the protection of those benefits. I want to assure those employees that, once this sale has occurred, their benefits will be protected. The accrued benefits are guaranteed under legislation and will be paid in full by the government. The future super arrangements that will apply to Telstra employees who will exit the CSS after the sale will be a matter for Telstra.

Like all employers, Telstra has an obligation to make super contributions in respect of those employees. I am advised that Telstra management recently wrote to all employees explaining the arrangement. So I am not quite sure what Senator Sherry is getting at. We have properly and appropriately advised Telstra employees of the situation. The situation with Telstra employees will be exactly the same situation that applies whenever a government exits a business and therefore those employees can no longer be described as being in government employment. That was the case, as I said, in relation to government businesses that the Labor Party sold. We want to make sure that the employees are appropriately protected. We believe they are.