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

My question is to the Minister for Finance and Administration, Senator Minchin. Does the minister recall saying on the Sunday program:

I am prevented, by law, from being a spruiker. I am not a licensed financial adviser.

Didn’t the minister tell the National Press Club in August 2005 that ‘Telstra is a good investment’ and ‘a great yield story’? Didn’t the minister also say:

This is a point I will be making quite a lot to potential investors.

When did the minister realise it was illegal under the Corporations Act for him to spruik Telstra shares? Did the minister obtain legal advice to this effect, and will the minister now apologise to the Telstra shareholders, particularly those he reminded it peaked at $9, who were suckered by his incompetent and misleading financial advice?

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

I have not provided the sort of financial advice which Senator Sherry suggests that I have. At all times I have stayed entirely within the law on this matter. There is a general injunction and it is a situation that all ministers need to be conscious of—that in relation to the sale of shares in a government company they must observe the law. At the same time, obviously this is a company owned by us, a great Australian company and one that we believe contributes enormously to Australia—to its corporate ethos, to its telecommunications assets and to the community generally. The opposition can be assured that at all times we will endeavour to—and we will indeed—stay within the law on this question. Obviously there is a fine line. There is, of course, a difference between seeking to persuade individual investors to buy particular shares in the context of a sale as opposed to a general statement by a government minister about a company, of which the government still owns 51 per cent, and the performance of that company. Obviously, as the finance minister I am in effect responsible for the taxpayers’ compulsory shareholding in this company. They have not had a choice; they are compulsory shareholders. I have a responsibility to take a keen interest in the financial performance of this company and ensure that the taxpayers are getting a return on those shares while they continue to own them. Therefore, I have a vested interest in its dividends and its general financial performance. I thank Senator Sherry for watching over this matter. I am sure he will let me know if I ever transgress what he believes to be the law in relation to spruiking.

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

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Can the minister confirm that since he held himself out to be a financial adviser at the Press Club the Telstra share price has fallen by 24 per cent—from $4.72 to $3.60—and Telstra has cut its special dividend? Given the magnitude of the losses suffered by shareholders, I ask again: will the minister apologise to small investors who were suckered by his incompetent and misleading financial advice?

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

I am pleased that Senator Sherry has such an inflated view of my persuasive powers. I frankly do not share it. I certainly reject the premise of his question that I was in any way holding myself out as a financial adviser in relation to Telstra.