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TELSTRA
THE
SELL-OFF
The proposed sale of the remaining
51% of
Telstra is yet another example of the Federal Governments' contempt for the Australian
people. Every telephone subscriber and user will be effected by the inevitable rise in
costs that will follow (including timed local calls).
The most effected will be rural Australians who rely on the
telephone as a lifeline to services that city and town dwellers take for granted. The
rises in costs, the reduction in services and the inconvenience of weeks for delays in
basic maintenance, will see an unequalled downward spiralling of the essential qualities of
life for all country families.
As part of the justification for the sale of Telstra, the
government cites the 'mums and dads' of Australia will benefit by purchasing shares in the
float, but they neglect to point out the real beneficiaries will be the multinational
companies who will have the controlling majority.
Successive governments have progressively sold Australian
public utilities to rectify government mismanagement and excesses, to the detriment of
every Australian man, woman and child. The perception that this wanton sale of public
assets is something new, is wrong.
There also appears to be a perception that the sale of
Australian public assets by successive governments will cease with the proposed sale of
Telstra, not so it emerges.
The keynote address by now retired prominent party
politician, Clyde Cameron, to the Victorian Country Conference of the then recently
amalgamated Association made up of the former Australian Telecom Employees' Association
and Australian Telephone & Phonogram Officers' Association held at the Clyde Cameron
College on 28 April 1989, tells the story of party politics. (see
- Privatisation) This address delivered in 1989 pre-empted and forewarned of party
policy in relation to privatisation of public utilities. This is a 'must
read' document which justifies the questions of creditability and manipulation
within the political party system.
A simple question in economics would be:
If you have a business earning a PROFIT in excess of
$4,500 MILLION a year, and increasing at an unprecedented rate due to technological
advances, why would you even contemplate it's sale?
A possible answer:
The banking sector - ALL MULTINATIONALS - seizing
yet another
opportunity to capitalise on their investment by demanding government payment on
borrowing's, reputedly costing the Australian taxpayer an estimated $27 million
(PLUS) a day in
interest alone. The banks get two bites of the cherry with the sale:
- Hundreds of millions of dollars in interest payments, PLUS
- The goose (Telstra) that lays the golden eggs.
or could it be that...
The proposed sale of Telstra has little or nothing to do with the providing or
maintenance of telephone services in rural or regional Australia. It has nothing to do
with the reduction of Australia's international debt or the host of other reasons given by
the Federal Government.
The Telephony System as we know it, is as old as yesterday's news, in terms of
telecommunications.
Telstra provides two ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) services, Microlink and
Macrolink, which provide access to Telstra's switched networks. The ISDN is an advanced
communications platform providing switched digital communications for a variety of
applications on a single network, including voice, data, video and facsimile.
Microlink
can be used, with a suitable terminal and
equipment, to link telephones, computers, facsimile devices, video conferencing units,
printers or multimedia workstations. One Microlink is the equivalent of two (2) analogue
lines, plus a signalling channel. It can be used to connect up to eight terminal devices
at a single site. Telstra sees ISDN as a vital stepping stone for the move from narrowband
to broadband technology.
Telstra has committed more than $300 MILLION to upgrade its network in anticipation of
the MASSIVE growth in demand for ISDN services.
Macrolink, as with Microlink, can be used, with a
suitable terminal and equipment, to link telephones, computers, facsimile devices, video
conferencing units, printers or multimedia workstations. One Macrolink, typically, is the
equivalent of thirty (30) analogue lines, plus a signalling channel. It can be used to
link PABX's at different locations and similarly link local area networks (LAN's).
In addition to Microlinks and Macrolinks, Telstra is conducting Research and
Development (R & D) into the emerging telecommunication technologies of Low Earth
Orbit (LEO) and Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites, which are touted to replace ISDN in
global data communications. These satellite systems would be in enormous
demand commercially, due to there being efficient, economical and high speed.
Telstra is a major world leader in communications and is at the forefront of
technology, much to the envy of international competitors.
There is at least one multinational communications conglomerate currently negotiating
with the Australian government and Telstra wishing to PURCHASE a minimum of 25% of
Telstra. With the governments' attitude on Globalisation,
the Multilateral Agreement on
Investment and Privatisation, could this be
the real reason
why they are refusing to back away from the proposed sale of Telstra?
ANY FURTHER SALE OF TELSTRA
MUST BE STOPPED NOW.
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Rural
Queenslanders
must come before the
Multinational Media
The decision taken by Telstra to
supply and upgrade telephone services to rural Queenslanders by closing the little used
Reach Points, is a step in the right direction.
Reach Points, which have the same
capacity as 44,000 telephone calls an hour, were being used, at most, 3 percent of their
capacity, with some not being used at all for years.
Telstra must remain committed to
utilizing this network capacity to provide not only telephone access, but also additional
services such as high-speed data delivery for facsimile, Internet and additional lines for
rural Queenslanders, and, small business services such as EFTPOS.
Telstra must not jeopardize the
quality of life of rural Queenslanders by maintaining Reach Points, used for approximately
12 HOURS a year, for the selfish interests of the multinational media who have the
resources to access state of the art satellite equipment.
Rural Queenslanders and all
Australians, have a right to access the latest technology that Telstra can
provide, after all, they own it!
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The
Telstra Bombshell
On Friday October 2nd 1998 (the day before the
1998 Federal Election), the Chief Executive of Telstra advised the Federal Minister for
Communications, that Telstra had lodged a submission with the Australian Communications
Authority (ACA) claiming that the cost of subsidising Australian rural telephone
subscribers was in fact... $1,800 million dollars.
The $1,800 MILLION claim
is a staggering $1,550 million MORE than the Government's previous estimate of the cost of
subsidising rural telephone users.
The Government, having just
been returned to office on a platform of providing world-class telephone services to every
town, hamlet and farm in rural Australia, the Telstra submission to the ACA has rocked the
foundations underlying the Government's promise.
This is a $1,800
MILLION
bombshell that will not go away.
Worse still, the Telstra submission opened up a
legal 'Pandora's Box' that the Government and other industry players are still struggling
to comprehend. All over Australia the eyes of lawyers who specialise in telecommunications
and shareholder oppression cases have lit up like a 'Guy Fawkes' night extravaganza.
Given that Telstra has 1.7 million
shareholders, the Government's potential liability to class action lawsuits from the
minority shareholders are massive.
Shareholders purchased one third of Telstra for
$16,000 MILLION, with most being aware that the Telstra share register is the answer to a
class-action lawyer's prayers. Should the Telstra directors decisions favour the majority
shareholder (the Government) at the expense of the minority shareholders, they would be
swamped in a deluge of legal claims alleging breach of directors' duty.
The Telstra saga continues.
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TELSTRA
- THE FACTS
Regardless
of the political rhetoric being espoused by countless politicians of all
political persuasions, the proposed sale of Telstra is NOT inevitable.
Who
say's so, you may well ask? Well, a majority of Telstra owners say so… that's who!
Every
Australian who has every paid tax is a joint owner of Telstra, as Telstra is a
public asset paid for in full by the sweat of Australian taxpayers.
Prime
Minister John Howard has stated the full sale of Telstra is inevitable, as it
(Telstra) cannot remain 'half pregnant'.
What
a derogatory, sexist and anti-women remark. Who forced Telstra into its present
condition anyway?
Yes…
the same immoral, elitist, snout-in-the-trough, power crazed politicians who now
want to dump Telstra to pay for their other sins.
These
are the same economic clowns who gambled and lost over $4,780 million of
Australian taxpayer dollars in 'cross-currency interest rate swaps' during
1997-1998 and 2000-2001. The Australian taxpayer must now pay an additional $300
million a year in interest 'indefinitely', as a result of this illegal gambling
sham, which breaches the Federal government's own guidelines.
Some
Telstra Facts:
There
is absolutely no point in contacting local Members of Parliament, sending
petitions or letters of outrage, as lip service or being totally ignored is the normal
response.
The
ONLY way of getting politicians attention… of seeing them in fear of losing
their POWER and their associated lurks and perks… is in a massive vote against
them at the next election.
If
your elected representative does not vote for you, why should you vote for him/her?
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THE VULTURES
ARE GATHERING
On 15
December 2004 it was reported that Prime Minister Howard was prepared to relax
the foreign ownership requirement in the future sale of TELSTRA, whereas
currently there is a cap of 35% foreign ownership in the Act under which Telstra
is incorporated.
"You
can sometimes get more investment and a better price and greater activity if you
allow some greater levels of foreign investment", Mr Howard said.
(Australian Financial Review, 15 December 2004)
The
vultures, naturally, are circling for their cut.
Commissions are immense. By
way of comparison:
"The
T1 sale cost $260 million, including $91.2 million in commission and fees to the
three global coordinators, ABN Amro Rothschild, CS First Boston, and JB Were.
In
1999, T2 came with a bill of about $169 million. The proposed sale will be at least twice that amount.
The following corporations have had a share of past sales, and will no
doubt be eager for easy pickings in Howard's intended sale in the second half of
2005…
ABN
Amro Rothsechild; Credit Suisse
First Boston; Goldman Sachs;
JB Were; Macquarie
Bank; Ord Minnett;
Salamon Smith Barney; Warburg Dillon Read;
and UBS. (AFR, 15/12)
To make
matters worse, the proposed sale will come in an environment of unprecedented
turmoil as the American dollar continues its downward slide.
One result will be that, under the recently enacted US Jobs Creation Act,
Foreign Investment will be repatriated to America.
The Australian (15 December 2004) predicted that up to $300,000 million
invested in Australia could be pulled out and repatriated.
Foreign
investment pulled out of Australia will result in an equivalent spiralling of
our Foreign debt, which already stands at $430,000 million and increasing
by an average $5 million each hour.
It
hardly needs saying that the Federal government is not acting in the best
interests of Australia's taxpayer, but simply taking orders from the 'movers and
shakers' in the World money market.
