Explanatory Statement
Telstra (Transition to Full Private Ownership) Act 2005
85% Sale Day Declaration 2007 (No. 1)
Issued by the authority of the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts.
For the purposes of the Telstra (Transition to Full Private Ownership) Act 2005 (the Act) the 85% sale day for Telstra Corporation Limited (Telstra) is the first day on which, in the opinion of the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts (the Minister), 85% of the voting shares in Telstra are held by a person, or persons, other than the Commonwealth (see subsection 4(1) of that Act).
To provide regulatory and commercial certainty, the 85% sale day for Telstra is declared by written instrument. Subsection 4(5) of the Act provides that this instrument is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 (LIA), but section 42 of the LIA does not apply to the instrument. The instrument is therefore required to be registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments and tabled in both Houses of Parliament, but is not subject to Parliamentary disallowance.
On the 85% sale day for Telstra, Part 3 of Schedule 1 to the Act repealed Division 3 of Part 2 of the Telstra Corporation Act 1991, which imposed reporting obligations on Telstra and Part 3 of the Telstra Corporation Act which gave the Minister the power to give Telstra such directions as appeared to the Minister to be necessary in the public interest. It also repealed section 8AYA of the Telstra Corporation Act, which enabled the Minister for Finance and Administration to direct Telstra not to dilute the Commonwealth’s equity in Telstra.
This day was the day that the Commonwealth transferred its residual shareholding in Telstra to the Future Fund Board of Guardians.
Following consultation with the Department of Finance and Administration, I have been advised that on 28 February 2007 the Commonwealth transferred to the Future Fund Board of Guardians its residual shareholding of approximately 2.1 billion shares (around 17% of total Telstra shares).
Accordingly, I have declared that, in my opinion, 28 February 2007 is the day on which 85% of the voting shares in Telstra are held by a person, or persons, other than the Commonwealth and I have declared that day to be the 85% sale day for Telstra under subsection 4(1) of the Act.