Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Does the minister recall the secret briefing document that Telstra management provided to the government in August last year? Didn’t Telstra admit in this document that its past practice of borrowing to pay dividends was unsustainable in the future? Given Telstra’s stated opposition to borrowing to pay dividends, is the minister seriously suggesting that the government’s public heavying of the Telstra board did not contribute to its U-turn on this issue?