Govt has change of heart — TTT no longer for sale

The same cabinet, which last year decided to divest state-owned NBN, yesterday had a change of heart, when the matter came back to it for final determination. Prime Minister Patrick Manning at a news conference at Whitehall told reporters that several ministers, himself included, have been having serious reservations about the original plan. Asked whether government was reluctant to surrender political control over a television station, Manning said that that question was raised, but not answered, Manning said, “We just felt we needed to re-examine that policy before we confirm it,” adding that “it was all up in the air.”

Manning said the cabinet comprised human beings “who could always change their mind and see a different point of view on the matter. After we took the decision on policy, we referred it to the Divestment Secretariat...in the interregnum you have time to think on these things again and reflect,” he said. A government source said that one of the considerations which factored into the change of heart was the fact that government would have to invest some $70 million into NBN before putting it on the market. Government had taken the decision to divest  in December last year, citing among its reasons the fact that NBN was losing $1.5 million a month.