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

My question is also to the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Conroy. I refer the minister to a report in the Age on 20 February stating that before Christmas broad agreement between the Prime Minister and the free-to-air network chiefs had been reached at a meeting at Kirribilli House about ‘a cut’ to licence fees. Can the minister confirm the accuracy of this report, and if so did the minister attend this meeting? Further, I ask: on what date was the decision to award the rebates formalised by the government? Considering the minister claims this is part of a ‘package of measures’, why won’t he announce the remaining measures now that he has been forced to prematurely announce the $250 million handout to the networks?