Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. I would be interested to know when the minister came to the view that suddenly the sale had to be deferred. I also want to know what the minister has to say to Australians who have watched his performance in handling the sale of Telstra, handling the sale of the Snowy and now handling the sale of Medibank. Why should Australians have any confidence in the minister, given that he has botched all three sales? This comes at a great cost to the Australian taxpayer. Isn’t the burden to the Australian taxpayer the minister’s failure to do his job properly? Why should we not come to the conclusion that the minister is driven by ideology rather than the interests of Australian taxpayers?