Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (Senator Conroy) to questions without notice asked by Senator Minchin today relating to Telstra.

Today I asked Senator Conroy, as the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, specifically about the proposed exclusion of Telstra from future spectrum auctions and the consequences of that extraordinary proposal. I draw to the Senate’s attention the fact that this is the very key to this whole package of measures brought to the parliament yesterday by the minister. Today the minister comprehensively failed to answer any of the questions we put to him on this issue. He could not and has not given any policy rationale whatsoever for this quite extraordinary decision that the government has taken:

Telstra will be prevented from acquiring additional spectrum for advanced wireless broadband …

That is the minister’s statement, and that is the key to this whole policy formulation, and he cannot give any policy rationale whatsoever for that extraordinary proposition. I also asked him about the cost to taxpayers—