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

Thank you, Mr President. So, as those matters go to matters that are, apparently, going to be the subject of some legal action, I am not going to join issue with Senator Conroy, because I prefer to answer it where there is an appropriate place to do so.

What is interesting about Senator Conroy’s question, and the whole line of questioning of the Labor Party when it comes to telecommunications matters, is the closeness between the Labor Party and Telstra. It is because Telstra has realised that only under a Labor government will it be possible to retain its monopoly, destroy competition, wind back safeguards for consumers, and support a twofold increase in both telephone and broadband prices. The shame of the matter is that Telstra has got the Labor Party where it wants it—a puppet on a string, prepared to do Telstra’s bidding regardless of how it will hurt consumers.