Steve Hutchins (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Minchin, the Minister for Finance and Administration. I again refer the minister to the government’s briefing document directing coalition MPs to talk up the particularly attractive dividend stream flowing from T3. Is the minister aware of comments by columnist Terry McCrann that John Howard ‘plans to trick up T3 in exactly the same way as he did T2—suck you in with an artificially and unsustainably big dividend’? Isn’t it the case that the T3 share price will be artificially propped up by this unsustainably big dividend? Isn’t it the case that, in 18 months time, T3 investors will again have the Howard government to blame for sucking them into Telstra through a ‘tricked-up’ dividend just as they were in T2?