Mr BEAZLEY —My question is addressed to the Minister for Finance. Minister, given that the Prime Minister has indicated that he will not be accepting the message delivered on Saturday, do you propose to go ahead with the full sell-off of Telstra? If you think that Mrs Chikarovski's privatisation plans had merit, will you be offering a $1,000 cash or $1,100 share bonus for households with the full sell-off of Telstra?

Mr FAHEY (Finance and Administration) —What a desperate and silly question. You always know that you can come in here on a Monday and get the most irrelevant of questions in terms of what is the real concern of the Australian people. The one thing the Leader of the Opposition does not have is his finger on the pulse of what is concerning the Australian people. He will look at all sorts of gimmicks and silly questions instead of getting down to the real issues.

Of course I will not rule out the sale of Telstra, because I want to get rid of Labor's debt. I recognise, just as is recognised by everybody on this side of the House, that for the past three years we have been addressing the debt left to us by Labor, and the sale of Telstra will make a significant contribution to that debt.

I recently had a call, which is normal, from ACOSS. They visited me, as I am sure they visited many of my ministerial colleagues. The one thing I mentioned to them—and I note that they took it on board—was that, if they want to get the sorts of things that their particular constituency is constantly calling for—and, in many cases, with good reason—if they want to see the Commonwealth budget directed towards the welfare area, towards housing, education and those core areas in which governments would like to have a responsibility, if they give us a chance, if this parliament gives us a chance to clear the debt, there are several billion dollars available each year ad infinitum that can be directed towards the real needs of the Australian people.

If we can clear Labor's debt, we can reorganise and reprioritise how the money is spent in any budget towards those most in need in this community. So we are going to press on with the sale of Telstra for that purpose. We are going to press on for a number of other reasons too which have been stated here in this House constantly.

As to the second question asked by the Leader of the Opposition, quite clearly what this government intends to do by way of a social bonus has been on the table for some considerable time. There are $671 million worth of benefits to the community, particularly in regional Australia. I note that the member for Perth has been running around saying that there is less in the way of social bonus than there is in the way of benefits to the brokers. Of course, he conveniently embarrasses himself by saying that the commission on selling the whole of Telstra is less than the bonus we have indicated is available from the sale of 16 per cent.

It is quite clear what we will give back to the Australian community, particularly in the area of telecommunications in regional and remote Australia. That has been on the table for some time. There is not the slightest doubt that this nation will benefit significantly, as will all members of the Australian community, if the Senate finally wakes up to itself and gives us the opportunity to sell Telstra.