Mr ENTSCH —My question is addressed to the Prime Minister. Has the Prime Minister seen any alternative proposals for the use of Telstra dividends? How would such ap proaches compare with the retirement of Labor debt planned by the coalition?

Mr HOWARD (Prime Minister) —I saw at the weekend that the Leader of the

Opposition is now saying that if he were in government he would divert money out of the Telstra dividends to worthy causes, particularly in regional Australia. There is one thing that he did not do: he did not say what he would do with the money he would thereby be taking from health, education and other services. Unfortunately for the Leader of the Opposition, the Telstra dividend is already factored into the budget. If you are going to take $500 million out of the Telstra dividend and give it to bush infrastructure, you are taking the $500 million from somewhere else. Are you going to take it from nursing homes, Medicare, government schools or poor Catholic schools? I think the Leader of the Opposition ought to answer this simple question: where is the money coming from?