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

My question is to Senator Minchin, the Minister for Finance and Administration. I refer to the minister’s decision not to ensure that 1,800 Telstra employees receive the superannuation pension benefit they were promised as a consequence of Telstra privatisation. Can the minister confirm that Telstra advised the T3 sale task force that there was ‘a compelling case’ in support of Telstra’s CSS members remaining in the CSS on the basis of legal advice that the 2004 deed of release was a legally binding document? On what basis has the minister made a decision which is, on Telstra’s advice, possibly illegal? Will the minister now table all material relevant to this decision, including the legal advice on which he based his decision to break the superannuation promise for 1,800 Telstra employees?