Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I apologise, but in terms of a review of access determinations the principles are the same: the tribunal may order that the determination be ‘affirmed, varied or revoked’; the tribunal  ‘makes an order’ for the determination to be ‘varied or revoked’; the tribunal ‘may perform all the functions and exercise all the powers of the commission’. If there is injunctive relief sought, Senator Birmingham is right: you would not expect it to go for 12 months. But potentially it could and it could go for several months. That has huge implications in relation to this.

So long as there is transparency in the process in the way determinations are made and the consultation that has been embedded in this legislation now, I would have thought that would provide adequate scope and adequate protections. The risk with this is that—and I do not say it in a pejorative sense at all; I do not question Senator Birmingham’s intentions other than being good ones from the perspective of the coalition—if you go down this path you will throw a spanner in the works when it comes to the structural separation of Telstra, and that is my primary concern.