Chris Bowen (Prospect, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I note that appropriations is an opportunity for wide-ranging questions on matters that appear in the budget papers. I note that the Special Minister of State stated that a very significant factor in the government’s decision was public opposition to the sale of Snowy Hydro and, as he indicated, this was said by both him and the Prime Minister at their press conference. I wonder if the minister could indicate whether the government will be paying as much cognisance to public opposition when it comes to considering and putting through legislation for the sale of Medibank Private and whether they will be reconsidering their decision to privatise all of Telstra, given the massive public opposition to both those sales, which are equal to if not greater than the public opposition across the country to the sale of the Snowy Hydro Scheme.

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