Doorstop Interview

Official Launch of Annual Variety Club Bash

Albert Park, Grand Prix Circuit

Friday, 22 August 2003
9.30 am

SUBJECTS: Shane Warne, Australian Sports Commission, Telstra

JOURNALIST:

Treasurer there has been a bit of furore, if you like, from Cricket Australia

and fellow cricketers about the latest Shane Warne saga. The Australian

Sports Commission, do they have the power to actually stop him from training

with Cricket Australia, and for that matter with his Victorian team-mates?

TREASURER:

Well the Sports Commission obviously is responsible for the overall conduct

of sport in Australia, it has quite a substantial budget and it has to

use that budget to ensure that the aims are upheld. One of the aims is,

of course, to keep sport in Australia drug free, and that is why they

are taking such a strong stand in relation to this and they have the

full backing of the Government to do that.

JOURNALIST:

So they do have your backing?

TREASURER:

They do have the backing of Government. The Australian Sports Commission

administers money on behalf of the public, taxpayers’ money, and they

have the obligation to ensure that Australia’s strong stand against drugs

in sport is maintained.

JOURNALIST:

A couple of commentators in the morning papers are saying that politicians

should keep out of it and leave sports administration to the sports administrators.

TREASURER:

Well this is not an area that the politicians are running, it is an area

that the Sports Commission is running. The Sports Commission has got

wide representation of people who have been involved in sport and are

sports administrators. This isn’t a situation where the Government is

determining something, the Government is backing the Sports Commission

which is an expert body which is charged with responsibly administering

the area.

JOURNALIST:

Do you personally agree with the decision?

TREASURER:

And I personally agree with it.

JOURNALIST:

Just on another issue, how confident are you on the passage of the full

sale of Telstra?

TREASURER:

Well it will be a difficult road through the Senate. We know that the

Opposition will try and defeat the Government’s program, but the legislation

has passed the House of Representatives, now it is a question of seeing

whether we can convince the Senators and I am sure that it will be a

long period.

JOURNALIST:

You have had one National Party Member and one Liberal Party Member abstain

from voting, do you think that is showing that there is a bit of shaky

support within the Coalition?

TREASURER:

Oh no, the Bill was passed with a pretty substantial majority in the

House of Representatives. Of course the Government does not have a majority

in the Senate, it never has had, so it is going to be a tougher and tortuous

road. But at the end of the day, let me make this point, the status of

Telstra has to be resolved. If you believe that Telstra ought to be nationalised,

then you ought to buy all the shares back from the private mums and dads

who own shares. If you believe that the telephone service can be equally

as well run in the private sector, then Telstra ought to be fully privatised.

But this situation where it is half-nationalised, half-privatised isn’t

going to work for the long term. Thank you.