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LETTER FROM CANBERRA
Saving you time. A monthly newsletter distilling public policy and government decisions which affect business opportunities in Australia and beyond.
18 June to 22 JulY 2010 issue no. 26: Pre-election edition Latest Roy Morgan Election Finding: What the Federal Government
Letter from Canberra, established 2008, is a sister publication of Leter From Melbourne, established 1994 should do to benefit electors and their families. - Pages 11 - 14
Our fascinating language inside
Editorial by Alistair Urquhart
Letter From Canberra is a publication about distilling public policy and the government decisions which effect business op- Gillard moves forward (to the right)
portunities in Australia, and we provide the surrounding political context. One purpose of the magazine is to keep much of the
unproductive political chatter away from the mind of the busy business reader. In this pre-election edition, we wrap up the Rudd rumbles around the globe…
political debate/activities in the first five pages.
Back when Tom Roberts painted the iconic Shearing the Rams in 1898, in that woolshed in the Riverina, a strong union move- Refugee policy battle. East Timor,
ment was being born, and not long after that the Australian Labor Party. The founders would be proud of today’s union power, Nauru…
strongly represented by the government and, seemingly, in this election, without competition from the Opposition.
Abbott stumbles on IR laws
It is difficult to remember a federal election characterised by so many imponderables, including a prime minister who has
only been in the job for a few weeks. The economy is the main issue for most marginal seat voters, and for their jobs, but it
is far from clear what state the economy is really in, or how it will fair over the next few years. We provide a snapshot of the The Greens may win balance of
issues on page 3. power in Senate
Do you want some fun? Take some time away from your busy life and sit quietly, alone in front of the TV, perhaps LateLine. Health Identifiers passed
Listen hard to the choice of words these political fighters are actually using at the moment on TV and try to figure out exactly
what they are saying, in the context of their particular party’s traditional or even more recent ever-changing policies, and those
of their competitor. The fun side of not switching off, and just focusing on listening to their words, is that one can hear some Telstra deal on National Broadband PB
of the silliest nonsense for a very long time.
18 JUNE to 22 JUly 2010
14 Collins Street aBOut tHe editOr AlIStAIR URQUHARt
Melbourne, 3000 Alistair Urquhart graduated from the Australian National University in Canberra, in Law,
Victoria, Australia History and Politics, was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court
P 03 9654 1300 of Victoria, and remains a (non-practicing) member of the Law Institute of Victoria.
F 03 9654 1165 Before that, he graduated from high school in Bethesda, Maryland, and had many
info@affairs.com.au opportunities to become aware of the workings of Washington DC. For 30 years, he
www.letterfromcanberra.com.au listened every Sunday evening to the late Alistair Cooke and his Letter From America.
His early career was mostly in the coal industry, where he became involved with
energy, environmental and water issues, and later in the SME finance sector.
editor Alistair Urquhart
associate editor Hamish Brooks His public affairs firm works with many engineering and information technology firms, other professional
subscription Manager Juliette Biegler association and industry groups, on a wide range of issues, in Victoria, Canberra and overseas. Urquhart visits
advertising Manager Eddie Mior Canberra regularly. He may hold the record for miles rowed on Canberra’s Lake Burley Griffin.
editorial consultant Rick Brown
design Steph Dang
indeX
IN APPRoxIMAtE oRDER oF INtERESt oVER tHE PASt MoNtH
WelcOMe Ms PriMe Minister 3 fOreign affairs 19
iMMigratiOn 4 infrastructure 19
Letter from Canberra is focused on the
interface of business and government, with resOurces 6 educatiOn 20
enough politics and bureaucracy to understand HealtH 7 Justice 20
the, or any, relevant business opportunities.
BrOadBand. ict. innOVatiOn 8 defence 21
We have been publishing Letter from Canberra’s industrial relatiOns. eMPlOYMent 15 agriculture. Water 21
sister publication Letter From Melbourne, a gOVernance 15 Manufacturing 22
public policy digest, for 16 years. Commencing
Business. ecOnOMY. taX 16 cOalitiOn dOings 22
with the Kennett era corporatisation and
privatisation of energy and other utilities and cliMate cHange. enVirOnMent. energY 18 sOcietY 22
the other fresh broom approach of a new
government, where we focused on business a snaPsHOt Of WHat tHe 2010 federal and very hopeful forecasts of China’s growth, and
opportunities. Increasingly, we included matters electiOn POrtends hence China’s demand for our resources.
in the other states and adopted a more federal
the leaders
focus. The Coalition points to the surplus they left Labor
Prime Minister for little more than a month, by
virtue of the dramatic deposition of her predeces- in 2007 and what has happened since. It says its
the recent change in federal government opens
up new business opportunities, particularly the sor, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard is 48, Welsh born, no wonder Labor picked the slogan ‘moving for-
government’s new emphasis on climate change, Adelaide-raised and educated in Melbourne. She ward’ for the simple fact is they would hardly want
carbon trading, water, industrial relations, is a lawyer, worked in industrial relations law prior to look backwards at their recent record. Abbott
education, information technology and the to becoming a politicall staffer and was elected says he will reject the revamped mining deal and
traditional sectors. to Parliament in 1998 for a Melbourne Western still deliver a surplus by halting Labor’s profligate
suburbs seat. Since Labor’s victory in the 2007 spending spree, cutting a range of pet Labor proj-
For many years, our other publications have ects (including the elaborate and hugely expensive
included the well-known federal government election, until her elevation as PM, she served as
Deputy PM and held a host ministries simultane- broadband network) and by stimulating growth in
Departmental Wall Chart. (NoW AVAIlABlE at 03
ously including employment and education. the small business sector.
96541300 or letterfrommelbourne.com.au)) We
conduct seminars and informal luncheons and
meetings in Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney. Tony Abbott, 52, was born in England, raised in Industrial Relations: Labor are committed to fight-
Sydney, was a Catholic seminarian before he ing the last election on ‘work choices’, not least
Most people have their clipping services and a
decided it wasn’t for him, took an arts degree at because they won that one, even if Abbott has
range of email products/newsletters/etc. At the declared work choices totally irretrievably dead
end of the month, Letter From Canberra gives a
Sydney Univ and then went to Oxford as a Rho-
des Scholar. Worked as a jounalist for the Bulletin, (at least for the next three years). Labor will keep
broad overview of what has been going on, not hammering on this open door because they figure
just in one industry but across all industries and a staffer for John Hewson in oppostion, ran the
monarchist campaign during the referendum, and there are votes in it, not to mention a lot of union
the world of business and government generally.
held several ministries in the Howard government money. Abbott wants to neutralise the issue as
objective. Independent. Read it on the plane. or
including health and education. quickly as possible, but his fierce rejection won’t
at a coffee shop in New york. And then give it to a
friend who is interested in Australia. assist in convincing his small business constitu-
ency that he is still their man.
the issues
Published by A.B Urquhart & Company Pty ltd trading as Affairs The Economy: the question at the heart of the cam-
Population and Immigration: Gillard has given the
of State. Disclaimer: Material in this publication is general paign is who can be trusted with the economy?
comment and not intended as advice on any particular matter. thumbs down to a ‘Big Australia’, a proxy PC ver-
Labor claims much credit for steering the country
Professional advice should be sought before action is taken. sion of ‘stopping the boats’, in order not to lose
Material is complied from various sources including newspaper through the rapids of the GFC, but rather tarnished
votes on this volatile issue to Abbott whose claim
articles, press releases, government publications, Hansard, trade that achievement by mishandling the stimulus
journals, etc. © this newsletter is copyright. No part may be to stop them has more credibility.
package to insure us against the GFC’s worst
reproduced, stored\ in or introduced into a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, consequences. The schools building program has
photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written been a disaster of waste and incompetence and the Wild cards. A fleet of boats arrive off WA;
permission from the publisher. Affairs of State respects your the insulation scheme not much better. The great China’s economic forecast takes a serious dive;
privacy. While we do believe that the information contained in
hope for meeting Labor’s promise to put the econ- Abbott blows it and figuratively falls off his bike;
letter from Canberra will be useful to you, please advise us if
omy back in surplus in three years rests above all Gillard’s raving lefty past catches up with her.
you do not wish to receive any further communications from us.
on their new, revamped mining tax and their new
22
2
LETTER FROM CANBERRA
jettisoning work choices, implementing hospitals a warning that China’s economic growth and the
Ms PriMe Minister reform and getting Australia into the Group of 20
among those achievements. Photos in the papers
demand for Australian mineral resources will be
no free ticket to easy prosperity.
a night of wildness showing Rudd on the backbench provided a
What?
In The Age, shaun carney wrote that Kevin strange sight.
The Financial Review reported that the leadership
rudd’s most senior adviser alister Jordan
a kind of stability challenge was a shock to many cabinet ministers,
had, during the month in the lead up to Julia
The Financial Review reported that shortly junior ministers, Parliamentary secretaries and
gillard’s leadership challenge, sounded out
before being sworn in as Prime Minister by backbenchers throughout the Caucus – the very
half the Labor caucus, checking if they were
the Governor-General, Quentin Bryce, Julia people who are normally involved or contacted
considering shifting their support away from the
gillard said ‘I believe that we [the Government] about a leadership spill. Key factional leaders
Prime Minister. To Julia Gillard, who had insisted
have on several issues not delivered the kind of had devised their moves carefully but most of
all through this time that she had no interest in
stability and certainty and good management Caucus was left in the dark. Evidently, even when
replacing Rudd, this was an act of spectacular
that Australians seek’. She launched her prime she went to meet Kevin rudd on the evening of
disloyalty. Michelle grattan wrote that Rudd’s
ministership by promising a more consultative 23 June, Julia gillard was still telling people that
leadership was trashed in an extraordinary and
style of government, quite different from the she had not made up her mind to challenge him.
unprecedented manner. The man obsessed with
‘gang of four’ kitchen cabinet that wielded power A source close to Gillard said she only took the
control lost control of his government, his party
under Kevin rudd. decision during their meeting.
and his prime ministership in a night of wildness.
The day before there was to be a vote on Rudd’s a safe pair of hands choosing between destructions
leadership, support for him had evaporated Shortly after taking the leadership, Gillard phoned The Age reported that research that showed
with the Australian Workers Union backing Julia Trade Minister simon crean and offered him her Labor would suffer a total wipeout under Kevin
Gillard. In the face of the challenge, Rudd stood old mega-portfolio of education, employment, rudd prompted the Australian Workers Union’s
on his record and criticised factionalism, before workplace relations and social inclusion, which decision to switch to Julia gillard. National
resigning on the morning of June 25, without a Crean accepte, The Age reported. Crean, who secretary Paul Howes said he feared the
leadership vote. The Financial Review reported served as a cabinet minister in the Hawke, situation was so dire the Coalition would be able
that the short and sharp transition was vastly Keating and Rudd governments, will be called to reintroduce WorkChoices. If that happened,
different from the lengthy brawl in 1990 that upon to prosecute the Government’s claim the union movement faced being destroyed,
damaged the Labor government of Bob Hawke that Opposition Leader tony abbott will try to he said. The Financial Review reported that
and Paul Keating. reintroduce WorkChoices. The Financial Review the leadership change demonstrated that Bill
reported that Foreign Minister stephen smith shorten, Communications Minister stephen
Poll bounce
gained Crean’s portfolio of trade and all other conroy and Senator Kim carr were a powerful
In an Age/Nielsen poll taken on Gillard’s first two
ministries were left unchanged. combination and in effect created a new creature
days as Prime Minister, more than half of those
in the federal caucus number crunch. However,
surveyed said they approved of her ascension. Moving forward
it is important to remember that the killer blow
The government’s two-party vote leapt eight As she grapples with three issues the government
came only when the New South Wales right,
points in three weeks, taking it to a 55-45 per must neutralise – mining tax, asylum seekers
stung by a crushing by-election loss at Penrith,
cent lead over the opposition, The Age reported. and climate change – Julie gillard has a broader
led by Mike arbib and Howes, decided enough
On the same day, the Herald Sun reported that challenge, wrote Michelle grattan in The Age.
was enough. So while the initial push might have
the ALP leads the coalition 52-48 on two-party She needs to fit her solutions into a story that
come from Victoria, the real shove was provided
preferred terms. Nearby, at the end of June, The defines, rather than confuses, her political identity.
from further north in the traditional powerhouse
Australian reported that primary support of the This became ‘moving forward’. However, she is
of Australian Labor. The Australian reported that
New South Wales Labor government dropped six struggling to shed the immediate past. A major
Gillard’s elevation eases the jitters for Labor in
percentage points to a record low of 25 per cent. scene setting speech on the economy at the
key marginal seats. On the opinion pages of
The change in leadership has caused the Labor National Press Club in mid-July veered off course
The Australian, Michael costello wrote that the
party machine to go into overdrive rebuilding its when Gillard was asked by veteran journalist
unions and factions don’t deserve all the credit in
election campaign with Julia gillard front and laurie Oakes whether she had in effect reneged
Gillard’s ascension. Only she had the power and
centre and the throwing out thousands of dollars on leadership succession deal with Rudd on
popularity in caucus to depose Kevin rudd.
worth of newsletters, pamphlets and other the night he was toppled. It is understood that
material featuring Rudd as the leader. Gillard initially signalled she would not challenge shorten’s hand
his leadership during a meeting on the night of The Herald Sun reported that two of the Victorian
resigning but not quitting
June 23 in the then PM’s office, The Age reported. ALP’s heavy hitters, MP Bill shorten and former
The Herald Sun reported that a single tear ran
She refused to comment on what she said ALP state secretary Senator david feeney have
down Kevin rudd’s face as he delivered an
were confidential conversations. The Australian been linked to the push to end Kevin rudd’s
emotional farewell to the nation. Flanked by his
reported that Labour figures are blaming Kevin leadership. For years they have worked in
wife Therese and their three children, Rudd was
rudd for the leak of what happened on that tandem to influence the direction of the party, but
overcome several times as he spoke about his
night. Rudd confirmed that he believed Gillard in recent times have had their differences within
passion to fight cancer, promote organ donation
last month reneged on arrangement that would the complex power structures of the Victorian
and the apology to the Stolen Generations. He
have saved his job as prime minister. Meanwhile, ALP Right wing. The Australian reported that the
will not quit politics and wants a senior role in
the Herald Sun reported that a pledge of active Victorian right faction took the unprecedented
the Gillard government, but at the moment would
microeconomic reform and prudent economic step of offering Julia gillard, a member of the
spend some time on the backbench. The Age
management spearheaded Gillard’s first major Victorian left, the leadership of the Labor Party.
reported that Julia gillard rejected Rudd’s bid
pitch to business. Gillard sought to establish
to become foreign minister, instead promising Bolt’s view
her credentials as a fiscal conservative by
him a senior cabinet post if the government In the Herald Sun, andrew Bolt wrote an article
committing to protecting the budget surplus
is re-elected. Rudd paused scores of times explaining why Julia gillard can win where
forecast for three years time. And she sounded
as he tried to keep his composure and list the Rudd lost, but not before noting that our new
government achievements he was proud of. He prime minister should be able to get away with
nominated: riding out the global financial crisis, taking the leadership the way she did. Whilst
23
3
18 JUNE to 22 JUly 2010
she conceded she bore her fair share of the would appeal to a broader range of Australians. 24-hour news channel to break news. What the
blame for the government’s failures, she did tick And Catholic priest Bob Maguire claimed that public does not need is more programs in which
off on every government policy, and personally Abbott’s extreme Catholic views would scare off ABC journalists interview other ABC journalists.
led the Building Education Revolution, the most voters, ‘Australians are not religious, we are the
Just a damn popularity contest
rorted government program in history. Still, Bolt world’s leading secularists,’ he said. A week or
Former Labor leader Mark latham said the
believes, her superbly executed assumption of so later, the Herald Sun reported that Julia Gillard
move against Kevin rudd showed the Labour
power may just work. It’s not just that she has told ABC radio that she is not a religious person
leadership was only about popularity, and no
what Rudd fatally lacks – a secure sense of self, and will not pretend a faith that she doesn’t
longer about policy, values or ideology.
which makes her so much easier to work with. feel. For people of faith, she said the greatest
What she now adds to the bargain is the excuse compliment she could pay them is to respect not even married
of the new – and an astonishing reinvention of their genuinely held beliefs and not engage in A letter of the editor in The Age, from a lifetime
herself as a Labor Margaret thatcher. Rudd some pretence about hers. Although Gillard was Labor voter, expressed disgust at the dumping
had performed so many backflips that he could brought up a Baptist, and won prizes as a child of Kevin rudd as Prime Minister. In the same
not risk one more. But within hours of taking for remembering Bible verses, she says she has paper, Michelle grattan wrote that Rudd
his job, Gillard offered miners true negotiations. found a different path as an adult. The Australian received the harshest of reality checks. After his
What was even more remarkable about Gillard reported that the Australian Christian Lobby has election triumph, he tried to force everyone and
as she assumed the top job was the tone she said that, whilst being honest and true to herself, everything else to adapt to him.
struck. She started politics on the far Left of Gillard may have alienated Christian voters by the
Her partner
Labor, but pitched her spiel right at Australia’s declaring she does not believe in God.
Julia gillard’s partner, tim Mathieson, has
more conservative heart. In a brilliantly crafted
Won’t lodge until elected lived with her in Altona for three years. He is not
acceptance speech, she declared she’d work
New Prime Minister Julia gillard declared intimidated by his partner’s star power. Mathieson
for those who play by the rules and love their
she would not move into The Lodge until she recently made a career switch from hair stylist
country. Also in the Herald Sun, in the same
was elected by the people. ‘I’m very happy in to a sales position with real estate development
opinion section but on a different day, Jill singer
my home in Altona… very happy in my flat in company ubertas, where he has been since
wrote that tony abbott is yesterday’s man when
Canberra,’ she said. Not since Ben chifley in November. The Age reported that friends of the
it comes to the policies and issues that matter to
the 1940s – who lived and died in Canberra’s couple, who say they are affectionate with each
everyday Australians.
Kurrajong Hotel – has the Prime Minister lived in other in public, believe Mathieson will be keen to
abbott surrounded lodgings other than those provided by the state, be by Gillard’s side more openly.
Opposition leader tony abbott moved quickly The Age reported. A follow-up report by the same
some way back story
to paint his new opponent as an interim leader paper said that the first broken promise of Julia
The Age reported that Victorian Premier John
who lacked a mandate from the Australian Gillard’s rein may be on the cards, with security
Brumby picked Julia gillard as his chief of
people, as the Coalition took aim at Labor over experts and a government bodyguard describing
staff about 15 years ago, to help take on then
asylum seekers and the resources super profits her plan to live in her modest homes in Canberra
Premier Jeff Kennett. After two years running
tax. ‘They’ve changed the salesman but haven’t and Melbourne as untenable. As the Herald
his office in the mid-90s, Brumby helped Gillard
changed the product,’ Abbott said. Also, on Sun puts it: a security assessment will shortly
win preselection for the western suburbs federal
the Insiders, Abbott noted (playing down the be carried out by officers from the Protective
seat of Lalor, believing she had what it takes to
significance of Julia gillard being the first female Services Co-ordination Centre to ascertain if the
become prime minister. Gillard is close to deputy
prime minister) that he had a female Premier, a Altona home is fit for a national leader. An old
Premier rob Hulls (another former Brumby
female Governor, a female Prime Minister with a police caravan was parked opposite Gillard’s
chief of staff). Brumby, who fell out with Rudd
female Governor General and a female monarch. house in preparation for her return to Melbourne
over the former Prime Minister’s national health
What’s new? he asked. for the first time as Prime Minister. Nearby, Kevin
reform plan, said that he would pressure Gillard
rudd left the lodge five days after losing the
international well-wishers to reopen the debate. He said he would urge
leadership.
Julia gillard has personally assured US President the Prime Minister to do more in mental illness,
Barrack Obama of her commitment to the military entertainment news preventive health care and aged care.
mission in Afghanistan. The new Prime Minister On the opinion pages of The Australian, Janet
Happy as larry in Barry
spoke to a host of international leaders during a albrechsten wrote that an agile commercial
The Age reported that the front page of the local
busy round of phone calls. Indonesian president operator showed the ABC how it should be done
paper in the small Welsh port of Barry was
susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Malaysian PM when covering a news item as big as Julia
rewritten to make way for the big news that
najib razak and Canadian PM stephen Harper gillard’s challenge to Kevin rudd. Albrechsten
one of their own had become Prime Minister of
were among foreign leaders to congratulate her, wrote that the ABC’s chris uhlmann and Mark
Australia, even though most of the 40,000 locals
the Herald Sun reported. simkin did a brilliant job breaking the big story
had not previously heard of the child from their
on the 7 PM news, which reported leadership
c’mon eileen town who had left for Australia 44 years ago,
rumblings within the Rudd government. But if
MX reported that Kevin rudd took his oath of having been born in Barry in 1961.
you wanted more news about Rudd’s swift and
office in December 2007 holding the Bible and
dramatic downfall, you needed to channel surf
concluding ‘So help me God’. Julia gillard took
a Bible free affirmation. ‘I, Julia Eileen Gillard, do
over to Sky News. That night, Sky News became
the default national broadcaster. An editorial in
iMMigration. PoPulation
solemnly and sincerely affirm and declare that I Prime Minister for sustainable Population
the same paper expressed a similar sentiment
will well and truly serve the Commonwealth of Prime Minister Julia gillard declared she does
asking: is the national broadcaster ready for
Australia…’ In a poll of the religious beliefs of not believe in a ‘big Australia’, signalling a
24-hour news? ABC viewers were left frustrated
federal and shadow cabinet ministers last year, major shift in policy on the nation’s burgeoning
and baffled as to why an event unprecedented
Gillard said she was a non-practising Baptist and population growth, in a move to neutralise an
in the nation’s history, the move against the
not religious. Despite her stance, Baptist Union attack on the government over population, The
Prime Minister in his first term, received such
of Victoria Director of Ministries alan Marr said Age reported. Pointedly targeting her comments
scant attention. The ABC’s flat-footedness on
she had the respect of the church. RMIT social to marginal voters in outer suburban seats, Gillard
the biggest news night of the year provides little
science senior lecturer andrew scott said Gillard said ‘I don’t support the idea of a big Australia
confidence that it is ready to use its forthcoming
20
4LETTER FROM CANBERRA
with arbitrary targets of, say, a 40 million-strong tough new policy agenda to deter boatpeople. about the planned processing of asylum seekers
Australia or a 36 million-strong Australia. We The following day, The Age reported a United in East Timor, with some critics saying it is John
need to stop, take a break and develop policies Nations report cleared the way for the Gillard Howard’s Pacific Solution with another name,
for a sustainable Australia.’ tony Burke, who government to take a tougher stance on sending The Australian reported. There is hope in the
was appointed Population Minister by Kevin Sri Lankan asylum seekers home, saying key Christmas Island community who that Gillard’s
rudd to develop a strategy, will now be known groups in the country were no longer entitled plans to process asylum seekers offshore
as the Minister for Sustainable Population. The to automatic protection. In the Financial Review, could reduce rising rents, end short-term food
Government’s intergenerational report estimated geoff Kitney wrote that Gillard may have helped shortages and bring back cheap alcohol to the
that on present trends Australia would have 36 the Coalition by putting asylum seekers in the tiny Australian territory.
million people by 2050. spotlight. Immigration Minister chris evans
stand up
admitted the asylum seeker debate was ‘killing
nearby Cambodian-born Victorian state Labor MP Hong
the government’, in frank remarks seized on by
The Government’s new population policy is to be lim wrote an email to a concerned constituent,
the Opposition to claim Labor was only interested
decided after community consultation but will which he copied to state Labor MPs, expressing
in a political fix.
focus on where people live and environmental shame over the ALP’s treatment of asylum
effects. tony Burke said the debate on population the first foray into diplomacy seekers. Lim, who is a special adviser to Victorian
should be refocused to where people live, instead The Age reported that Prime Minister Julia Premier John Brumby on Victoria-Asia business
of the number of immigrants or total population. gillard began retreating from plans for a refugee relations, said his community and party should be
The government has appointed three panels to processing centre in East Timor, amid widespread standing up for people fleeing danger, the Herald
advise it on population policy. hostility to the proposal in the island nation amid Sun reported.
claims that she bungled the announcement. Gillard
solution does not pacify a fraction of votes and boats
insisted she had never nominated a location. ‘I’m
The above two items represent the first small Barrister and human rights advocate Julian
not going to leave undisturbed the impression I
steps towards neutralising another election issue Burnside wrote in The Age that we do not need to
made an announcement about a specific location,’
causing headaches, that of illegal boat people be protected from asylum seekers: they need to
she said in a radio interview. But on the ABC’s
arrivals. gillard broadly invited Australians to be protected from their persecutors. We receive
Lateline, East Timor’s President ramos-Horta
about 240,000 migrants each year, so one year of
say what they feel in the asylum seeker debate indicated clearly that Gillard had been talking
asylum seekers arriving by boat is equivalent to
without being constrained by self-censorship or about a centre in East Timor. Michelle grattan
about one week of new migrants.
political correctness, The Age reported. In the wrote that Gillard’s claim she did not announce
same paper, Michelle grattan wrote that by a specific location for her proposed regional going overboard
urging people to vent their views about the boats processing centre is bizarre and a political The Herald Sun reported that under a ‘get tougher’
blunder. The fallback options after East Timor are policy on boat people unveiled by opposition
without worrying about political correctness,
few and far between for the Gillard government, leader tony abbott, asylum seekers who dump
Gillard is taking a gamble. She is sanctioning
if it sticks to its criteria. The Australian reported their passports or documentation before arriving
the escalation of a difficult and explosive debate that Gillard’s backtrack on the plan came after in Australia would be refused refugee status. The
that turned bitter in 2001, and always has the East Timor’s Parliament formally condemned the power to rubberstamp applications will also be
potential to do so again. The Australian reported idea as unworkable. removed from assessors at Christmas Island,
that Pauline Hanson, who led the populist One and the Immigration Minister would be given the
Her first stuff-up
Nation Party to its high water mark in the 1990s, power to intervene in any case to refuse entry.
Julia gillard’s asylum seeker policy ran into
revealed she was in total agreement with Julia
immediate resistance, with East Timor’s Deputy Where art thou, compassion?
Gillard’s call to sweep political correctness from Prime Minister, Jose louis guterres, saying The Age reported that tony abbott’s promise to
the debate. the proposal for his nation to house a regional bring back a version of the Pacific Solution has
refugee processing centre is very unlikely to be won support from 42 per cent of Labor voters,
The Herald Sun reported that pressure was accepted. while only a bare majority of them – 51 per cent –
mounting on Gillard over unauthorised arrivals oppose it. In the Herald Sun, andrew Bolt asked
after the 75th boat of the year was intercepted in solution doesn’t pacify
where are those who mocked John Howard for
early July. The Australian reported that hundreds Before it had been unanimously voted down in
his tough stance on boat people? Despite more
of Afghan and Sri Lankan asylum seekers are the East Timorese Parliament, unions, refugee
drownings, the compassion industry is silent.
likely to be sent home under Julia gillard’s advocates and the Greens voiced strong concerns
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T II T?
T? Australian
rate is morereported.
like 22.5 per cent because of where only be delivered
fledgeling coal-seamif gas
state premiers
industry agree
would to
benefit
the Rudd’s new funding model at the Council of
Need K-10new impost is applied), raise the threshold from the decision to apply the existing petroleum
Need aa report
report or
or memo
memo written
written at which
The the tax
draft takes affect
curriculum from for
K-10 5 perEnglish,
cent to Australian
rent tax on theGovernments
sector, whichmeeting on April
would clear 19.
the way
last
last week
week and
and havenÕt
havenÕt found
found the
the 12 per cent, change the rules to allow miners to In
for all, Rudd on
progress has$50b
put of
a total of $3b
projects over four
in Queensland,
mathematics, science and history is available
words or time for it? reduce their taxable income and apply the new years
now the of threat
fundingof on
thethe table, including
resource a final
super profits tax
words or time for it? for public comment until 23 May 2010, www.
tax only to a limited number of commodities – not sweetener of $650m to cut waiting
has been removed. A later report in the same times for
acara.edu.au.
across the resources sector as envisaged by the electivefound
paper surgery.that taxpayers will effectively
We
We provide
provide aa full
full prompt
prompt Henry tax review, The Age reported. subsidise
A some of the world’s biggest energy
list of problems
service
in
Ð we are professionals
service Ð we are professionals HealtH companies
Kevin Rudd fordelayed
their recent
the $20b-plus coal seam
crucial meeting on
in public
public affairs
affairs with
with The renamed Minerals Resource Rent Tax, MRRT, gas acquisitions
health reform with under concessions
premiers made
until April 19,bywith
the
Handicapped
will now apply only to iron ore and coal, with the Government to win industry support
international
international experience. Just
experience. Just In the petroleum
nationallyresources
televisedrenthealth debate his office insisting the change wasfornottheir
duetaxto
call existing tax applying to amendments.
the uncertainty in the South Australian and
call anytime
anytime and
and we
we are
are at
at your
your between tony Abbott and Kevin Rudd,
oil and gas, including projects on the North-West
service. Abbott had thewasequivalent Tasmanian
the electionelection
campaign results. The new survey
in a nutshell
service. Shelf. The deal welcomedofby one footminers
the big in a
shows that adele
one fifth of voters are that
prepared to
plaster cast,Minerals
and accordingly In The Age, ferguson wrote the new
and by the Council oflost the debate,
Australia – but change their vote over health, The Australian
The Age’s Michelle Grattan mining tax is all about taking pressure off some
WriteRight
WriteRight the backdown put a $1.5b hole reported. The
in the budget reported. Nearby,
Opposition Leader came out worse on key marginal seats.the states
Since the have
new compiled
deal was
Contact
Contact Anthony
Anthony over the forward estimates. The wider business aofficially
list of unveiled,
more than 40 been
problems withasthea
substance and style. The Australian’s paul it has described
0412 community has lost half of their promised tax cut proposed hospital takeover.
0412 281
281 388
388 Kelly
in orderwrote
to pick Rudd
up the won
tab. the Great Health
compromise, a backflip and a monumental cave
Debate with a reminder that he is a smooth, in. It isabout
What all of this?
these, but most of all it is designed
persuasive andreview,
formidable Prime Minister to get the Premier
Victorian government Johnre-elected.
Brumby is promoting
After the Henry the Government said the
Gillard in December
australia’s expressing their concerns
biggest market who skates over his weaknesses
company tax rate for large firms would and projects
go down an alternative health
Probably should have happenedplan wheresooner
the states
aboutFinancial
The the overlyReview
bureaucratic
reporteddemands of the
that Families as29a per
to constructive leader.
cent in 2013-14 Abbott
(from 30 perperformed
cent) and retain theirBilliton
Former BHP power and to controldonand
chairman argusdirect
has
National
Minister Partnership
Jenny Macklin agreements.
said a priority in capably with a bad hand. The
then to 28 per cent. Now the promised Opposition had
tax stops hospital funding.
been appointed In a the
to head clear sign
policy that Victoria
transition group
population policy must be to ensure unemployed no hospital policy and this proved a crippling
at 29 per cent. The revised tax will likely effect is
overfundamentally
the new tax withopposed
ResourcestoMinister
the Federal
Martin
Bush scholarships laura
young
The people university
150,000 get the training
studentstheyliving
needintolimbo
help defect.
on a 330 Thecompanies,
Financial Review’s
rather than the tingle
1000+ Government’s proposed hospital
ferguson. The two have been close for years takeover,
and
ameliorate the tonational skills shortage. She wrote
originallythat the health
mooted. The small debate
minershashavegiven
not the
ArgusBrumby modelto rejects
is well-known Treasurerthe notion
Wayne of
swan.
over changes youth allowance have been Labor the chance to slow down a resurgent
said the needs of the economy needed to be been included in the new tax. the Financial
The Commonwealth directly that
Review reported funding the
Argus still
given some certainty after the Government opposition.
considered in future population growth plans local networks
owns about $13mthat runof hospitals,
worth shares in theThe Age
world’s
and Opposition struck a deal set to be pushed creative accounting
and, in the reported.
through thepast, that included
Senate. Educationencouraging
Minister At the
The mercy Review
Financial of the worm
reported Treasury secretary
biggest mining company, raising questions about
skilled migration
Julia Gillard and in areas where therecounterpart
Opposition were skills The Age reported that the
Opposition Leader tony whether
the pen he has a conflict
is mightier thanofthe
interest
swordas joint head
Ken Henry confirmed Government assumed
shortages. Thepyne
Christopher Australian
said reported
they hadthat the besta
reached Abbott has shifted towards a conciliatory Senior fellow of the GrattantaxInstitute,
of the government’s resource consultation
and
a significant rise in commodity prices, and a
student recruiters in China are switching to the Ministerto Kevin group.
compromise that meant scholarship funds position
change inonexport Primevolumes, claim itRudd’s
would former University of Melbourne vice-
US and Britain as destinations becausethe Australia hospitals policy as he tries to counter
will start flowing shortly. Under deal, sacrifice only $1.5b in revenue under its dealpoll
to chancellor
towards and medical doctor, David
his end
has botchedin skilled migration andareas
its universities damage
students rural and regional will find adjust theapparently caused by
planned resources tax.hisThenegativity
Coalition pennington wrote ingrattan
In The Age, Michelle The Agewrote
that that
the rudd
state
ithave a reputation
easier to claimforyouthprice gouging,
allowance according
than the to in the on
seized firstthedebate.
admission At the end ofWayne
to accuse March, the
swan should be collaborating rather than
was making tactical blunders in prosecuting hisholding
veteran agent John findley. ‘All agents [in China] Prime Minister’sdeceitpersonal
Government had initially proposed, but to of monumental whensupport was shown
he announced the back with
fight when theitpowerful
comes to Rudd’s
mining reforms
sector ahead for
of
are fedtheupchanges
with our current government’s attitude to be clearly rising disclosing
for the first
keep budget-neutral the value of revised tax without the time
change after
in the ailing health
the election. He wassystem.
giving hisThere is much
opponents to
serious
to migration,’
the government saidfunded
Findley,start-up
who attended June’s
scholarships months of decline. It was later reported in The be done, but the toPrime Minister criticism
has taken
revenue assumptions. ammunition to add the deepening of
Beijingbeen
have International
reduced.Education Expo. China
Some nationals MPsis important steps.
Age that
Artful new figures released by Swans showed
linkage his character. In an opinion piece in the same
Australia’s biggest market.’
were understood to be unhappy that the deal that
In an address to the
in 2013-2014, the second
ADC Citiesyear ofSummit
the tax,init paper,
Episodeformer
1 Treasurer Peter costello wrote
still left students in country areas worse off is expected to raise only $6.5b
Melbourne, Kevin Rudd linked his health – compared with that the Treasury chief should chairman
never have Gary
been
Productivity Commission
resources
than the current rules, The Age reported. $13b inpackage
reform its initialtoform. Over the
Australia’s first economic
future two years, asked to decide tax policy options.
Banks told a conference in New Zealand that
the expectedarguing
prosperity, take would shrink175,000
an extra from $18bpeopleunder the
train
Open them
mines and minds Howlack of a nationally
he messed up consistent approach
Speaking on the ABC Insiders program, John the old version to $10.5b under
could be in the workforce in 20 years if the new. to
Julia gillard extended a conciliatory hand to Kevin rudd’s attempts to hospital
measuring the cost of make theepisodes
mining
Roskam,
the mininghead of theinInstitute
industry of Public
her first day inAffairs,
office, chronic diseases
democracy rules are effectively tackled, The meant a huge amount of
industry a budget cash cow have workchallenged
needed
said the national
withdrawing thecurriculum
governmentwill only be okay
advertising Australian
The reported.
Coalition has pledged to oppose the tax, so to be done investment
international before Rudd’s plan incould
confidence be
Australia,
ifcampaign
more teachers
on theare trained.
mining tax and requesting its fate could
Making rest out
the stick withofthe Greens party, which
carrot implemented,
The Australian Financial
reported. Review reported.
BHP Billiton chairman
that the mining industry do so in a gesture of couldGovernment
The hold the balance of power in$632m
has committed the Senate
over Jac nasser said the proposed tax has driven a
Shonky foundations Before the worm turned
good faith. The Minerals Council of Australia from mid-2011. distinct changeLeader
in attitudes
Colleges assessed to be at the greatest risk four years to train thousands more doctors, Opposition tonytowards
Abbott Australia
has
agreed to suspend its advertising, with its chief askick
it throws from all typesPrime
of investors across all industries.
of collapse would have to pay higher levies
executive Mitch Hooke saying he was optimistic a in the out
gutscarrots to woo the states to challenged Minister Kevin Rudd to
under a proposed overhaul of Australia’s backAge
The its reported
hospital that
reformthe package.
inclusion of Victoria
iron-oreis immediately
it improved announced 3,500 extra beds for
about negotiating with the new Prime Minister, still holding out for more incentives, amid
$17b international education sector, The Age in the MRRT along with coal, while every other Australia’s
The public hospitals,
Age reported that three The Age industry’s
of the reported.
The Age reported. The Australian reported that warnings
reported.
Gillard moved swiftly to bury Labor’s damaging commodityfrom sits doctors
outside, that
is a the
kickstate
in thestands to
guts for biggest gorillas
Not good economics – BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and
lose much more form the deal than previously
the iron ore producers/developers sitting outside Xstrata – initially issued a joint press release
inadequacies
brawl with the mining industry by signalling More than a quarter of Australia’s hospitals
Medical
fundamentalstudents
elementsareof emerging
its proposedfromnew the
tax the proposedHarry
estimated. Hemley,
BHP-Rio Victorian
production president
combination in bagging
could go thebrokelevel
underof government
Kevin Rudd’s negotiation
activity-
nation’s
were up foruniversities feelingin Canada
negotiation. Swan, inadequately
at the the Pilbara. Fortescue chief andrew forestsays
of the Australian Medical Association, said over the proposed tax. The Financial
based funding model, according to research Review
Premier
‘It’s John Brumbythat
very disappointing should
right demand
at the time$1.5b
that reported that they dismissed Rudd’s claim
prepared
G20 summit,toalso
dealseemed
with more
crucial tasks such
flexible. for a new hospital or other infrastructure commissioned by the New South Wales
as calculating safe drug doses and writing junior and smaller Australian iron ore and coal of being engaged in detailed
Government. The research, by University negotiations on
she did it upgrades
miners havebefore
managed agreeing
to developto the plan, The
a foothold into resource taxation, declaring
prescriptions, according to Education Age reported. More incentives are on with
the of Wollongong academicthere was no
Kathy sign
Eagar,
After three days of negotiations, Julia gillard had the industry, they are immediately slugged the Government was ofaddressing
Department commissioned research. way, including $500m towards ensuring suggests hundreds hospitals the industry’s
across rural
reached a watered-down compromise deal on a proposed new and additional tax’. STOP PRESS. fundamental concerns. The Australian reported
Australian Medical Association president emergency and regional Australia that have 10 or fewer
the resources super-profits tax with the mining Junior miners department
may yet fight topatients wait deal
seek a better no that
bedstheand
Big Three were originally
unpredictable invited towould
workloads make
industry. In the new deal, the Government agreed from the mining tax negotiation.
66
18LETTER FROM CANBERRA
individual representations to Swan and Ferguson. seriously enough in its bid to get the health nearby
But they refused. Instead they insisted on a joint identifier legislation through Parliament. The Australian of the Year Patrick Mcgorry has called
session with Rudd’s representatives. health identity card is different from e-health upon new Prime Minister Julia gillard to urgently
records which are between the patient and others reform Australia’s beleaguered mental health
it’s over now
government and commercial agencies. This is not sector, warning the crisis could cost Labor votes
The Australian reported that Communications
patient-controlled. at the looming election. McGorry said Gillard
Electrical and Plumbing Union national secretary
must commit more funds to the sector and begin
Peter tighe, an ACTU executive member, said cross-over benefits
a root and branch reform of the system which is
some workers were getting concerned about their Before Kevin rudd became an ex-prime minister,
failing hundreds of Australian families, The Age
job security in the debate over the resources rent he said the requirement to roll out electronic
reported.
tax because the government had not adequately health and medical records will benefit from
rebutted the mining industry’s campaign. South the $11b deal with Telstra to buy access to also, nearby
Australian speaker and Labor MP lyn Breuer the carrier’s infrastructure under the National The Age reported that a nine-month government
travelled to Canberra to tell Kevin rudd the Broadband Network. Rudd said the future of a inquiry into suicide prevention would be wasted
mining tax will kill off the steel-making town of patient controlled electronic health record was unless more was spent on mental health, Suicide
Whyalla, The Australian reported. essential to the Government’s wider agenda for Prevention Australia chairman Michael dudley
health reforms. said. He said the Senate inquiry report, The
spooky
Hidden Toll: Suicide in Australia, had forged new
Australian Foundation Investment Company the missing e-link
ground in recommending a five-year advertising
(Australia’s largest listed fund manager) chairman The national president of the Pharmaceutical
campaign to de-stigmatise suicide, mandatory
Bruce teele was damning in his assessment of Society of Australia, Warwick Plunkett, said
training for police, paramedics and emergency
the planned resource tax, saying that investors that e-health was the missing link in enabling
department staff and the improvement of data
had been spooked by the lack of consultation, genuine collaborative primary health care
collection, but the government was refusing to
The Age reported. teams to work effectively and improve the well-
take the issue seriously.
being of all Australians. In his budget response,
Vale
tony abbott turned his back on the Coalition’s forget-me-nots
Former BHP iron ore chief executive geoff
decade-old commitment to e-health records sophie Pieters-Hawke, the 25-year-old
Wedlock and Queensland mining magnate Ken
and suggested the money would be wasted and granddaughter of Bob and Hazel Hawke, and
talbot were among six Australians confirmed
should be retained by the government. ‘Clearly three of her friends, all in their 20s, launched an
dead after their light plane crashed in West Africa.
the opposition needs to rethink its strategy on the initiative called the Forget-Me-Not project, which
The other executives killed were Sundance
issue,’ Plunkett said. aims to raise money and awareness of the impact
Resources chief executive don lewis, non-
of dementia on young people. Hazel, who was
executive director craig Oliver, non-executive Predominantly built
married to former Prime Minister Bob Hawke for
director John Jones and Talbot Group executive The Financial Review reported that the head
nearly 40 years until they divorced in 1995, was
natasha flason Brian, The Age reported. of the National E-Health Transition Authority,
diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2001.
Peter fleming, says the Government’s national
healthcare identifiers regime is on course to another funding crisis
HealtH launch on time, and the NEHTA will soon begin The aged care industry council, the peak council
identifying solutions discussions with industry about the technology of Australia’s aged care providers, which includes
The Financial Review reported that under the architecture needed to underpin electronic the Aged Care Association of Australia and Aged
Health Care Identifiers Bill 2010, new laws are health records. After welcoming the injection of & Community Services Australia, published an
being considered that would change the existing $466.7m for e-health in the budget, Fleming said open letter to then Prime Minister Kevin rudd
Medicare Act to allow the creation of unique the system behind the introduction of a 16-digit in The Australian newspaper saying that older
health identifier numbers, intended to form the unique healthcare identifier was predominantly Australians, the people who made this country
cornerstone of patient controlled electronic health built. great, are being let down by the Government’s
and medical records that could be transferred failure to address the funding crisis in aged and
Mental health hole
between clinicians and care providers. While most community care.
The Government’s top mental health adviser has
large businesses and government organisations resigned. The chairman of the National Advisory the discriminators
have had electronic customer records for nearly Council on Mental Health, John Mendoza The Presbyterian Church of Victoria is calling
20 years, similar progress in health has been accusing the government of failing the mentally for paid parental leave schemes to be scrapped,
frustrated by the fragmented and complex nature ill with their lack of vision and commitment to saying the Federal Government and Opposition
of the sector. Health Minister nicola roxon hopes a problem that affects millions of Australians. schemes discriminate against stay-at-home
legislation that will be passed by July 1 (see Most of his council colleagues say they share his mothers. They say the government should provide
below) will allow her department to start issuing despair that the Government’s multibillion-dollar a single payment or tax rebate directly to mothers,
the new identifier numbers. focus on hospitals is likely to leave crucial mental regardless of their employment status, the Herald
health services under-funded. In the May Budget, Sun reported. The Age reported that National Party
The Australian reported that patients will have to the government committed to $7.2b to health – MPs will not campaign for tony abbott’s paid
wait at least two years before they can access $175m of which was marked as new funding for parental leave scheme at the election, saying it
their medical records on line, according to mental health. Professor Mendoza said there was is geared toward city voters and damages the
Roxon. Initially, only Medicare would operate a no evidence of any new investment in mental opposition’s economic credibility.
secure website portal that would allow patients health, The Age reported. The Australian reported
to retrieve their personally controlled electronic answer to our woes?
that tony abbott ignited the unofficial election
health records. Regulations must be drafted that The Financial Review is holding a national Health
campaign by targeting Labor’s policy weak point
will allow health care providers to access the conference 2010, on 17 August, that looks at the
of mental health with a $1.5b spending package,
health-care identification service. question ‘Will e-health be the cure to the woes of
including 800 hospital beds. The Opposition
Nearby, the chief executive of the Public Interest our ailing health system?’, www.afr.com/events.
Leader promised to fund new mental health
Advocacy Centre, robin Banks, has accused the treatment facilities, including 60 to serve young
Government of making the same mistakes as people.
its predecessor, failing to take privacy concerns
19
718 JUNE to 22 JUly 2010
an IT technician from Hobart, became the first
customer connected to the national broadband
network. His service with Internet provider
Internode started about 5pm on July 1, giving
him connection speeds more than 30 times faster
than before. ‘It’s awesome,’ he said. ‘It’s a major
speed increase.’
round two
The Australian reported but the government has
revealed the locations of the second-round of
BroadBand. it. innovation Broad minded
The Financial Review reported that AAPT
communities in the mainland National Broadband
Network rollout. The network will be expanded
drum roll please… chief executive Paul Broad felt that Telstra’s into 19 new fibre service areas.
Telstra will hand over millions of customers rivals should be allowed to access the former
to the Government’s new national broadband monopoly’s infrastructure at the same price as nBn contractors
network and close its ageing copper and cable the National Broadband Network if they wish to The Australian reported that NBN Co is a while
networks (instead sharing its infrastructure lay competing fibre networks. Broad believes the away from issuing request for tenders to satellite
with NBN Co and migrating fixed line customers Government’s non-binding $11b deal with Telstra network operators hoping to get a slice of the
to the government’s new fibre network) in an has exposed a weakness in the government’s $43b project. The company has reduced its
$11b deal that will fundamentally reshape the competition policy for the sector. satellite shortlist to six or seven operators since
communications industry, The Age reported. It issuing requests for capability statements in
furthermore January. More than 10 international and domestic
will abandon its traditional core business of fixed
The Age reported that Telstra, no longer obliged satellite operators pitched their credentials,
line communications networks. The deal is a
to provide every house with a telephone service, but only a handful were considered serious
breakthrough for the $43b national broadband
can focus on content delivery and developing contenders. It is understood Optus, Intelsat and
network, as it will allow the new services to be
new technology, and is already positioned to be a Hughes Network Systems are among the few
rolled out faster and more cheaply.
winner in a national broadband environment, say named on the shortlist. The provision of satellite
industry analysts. The Financial Review reported services in the NBN build – along with wireless
Telstra will be a participant in the rollout of the
that Telstra chief executive david thodey has technologies – is needed to supply 10 per cent
national broadband network. Telstra chairman
promised an aggressive expansion in wireless of the nation with 12 megabits per second
catherine livingstone said the proposed
services after settling the company’s row with broadband connections. The other 90 per cent
transaction would deliver payments and financial
Canberra, as investors welcomed the imminent of the population will be serviced by a fibre-to-
savings to the telco over coming years with a
removal of government curbs on the company’s the-home network capable of delivering internet
net present value of $11b after tax. Livingstone
growth. connection speeds of 100Mbps.
emphasised the heads of that agreement
needed to be followed by finalisation of detailed and nearby
binding agreements, which, in turn, would need In mid-June, The Age reported that the An Australian owned satellite operator has
shareholder approval before they could be government appears no closer to getting its condemned the NBN Co for the way it has
implemented. The regulatory certainty and high way on a bill to split Telstra, despite listing the conducted the tender process for providing
prices are expected to significantly boost Telstra’s legislation for debate in the Senate. The Greens internet services in rural areas. In a letter
share price, and could underwrite the company’s have already pledged in principle support for the addressed to major stakeholders, NewSat chief
high dividend for several years, according to bill, which pressures Telstra to split its wholesale executive adrian Ballintine said the company
one analyst. In a more detailed analysis of the and retail operations as well as strengthening had been shafted without proper consideration
deal, The Australian reported that Telstra will the competition watchdog’s powers and limiting or fair notice. NewSat submitted a response to
be paid $9b to transfer its voice and broadband payphone removal. Even with the Greens’ votes the NBN Co’s request for a capability statement
customers from its copper and cable networks to and the probable support of South Australian regarding the supply of satellite network and
NBN Co’s network as it is rolled out. independent nick Xenophon, the Government services, but it was rejected in a two-line e-mail
will still need one additional vote, likely to come that simply thanked NewSat for its submission,
The Government will grant Telstra a number of from Senator steve fielding. The Australian reported. The Age reported a total
regulatory concessions worth about $2b as it of 45 groups responded to NBN Co’s call in March
a win for the south
takes over Telstra’s universal service obligations for expressions of interest in the construction
The Age reported that Melbourne has been
through the creation of a new entity – USO Co. project; 21 of them have been selected to make
selected as the operations base of the national
Telstra also received a written guarantee that a formal bid.
broadband network, injecting millions of dollars
they would not be barred from bidding for new
into the state’s economy. The national operations rocca on
wireless spectrum (see below) needed to evolve
and test facility will employ 425 professional The Australian reported that Telstra is positioning
its mobile broadband business.
and technical staff. It comes in addition to the itself to cash in on the growth of internet data
approval company’s engineering operations group in services, such as on demand video, by building
Telstra shares rose to a four-month high as Elizabeth Street, expected to employ another 290 $14m worth of new network and media centres.
investors backed the group’s historical $11b deal people. The new facility will be used by NBN Co They would serve as small data centres in the
to participate in the national broadband network. to monitor and manage its national operations, telcos telephone exchanges, where they would
Telstra’s stock opened at a year high of $3.44, up including assessing activated services, detecting be used to deliver online content in a more
21c or 6 per cent, before giving some ground to faults and carrying out tests for service providers. cost-effective and efficient manner, Telstra chief
close up 3.4 per cent, in mid-June, The Australian The decision is a major victory for the Victorian operations officer Michael rocca said. It will
reported. Future Fund chairman david Murray – government. By the end of July, the network’s allow Telstra to bring infrastructure closer to
a major Telstra shareholder – says he is carefully first customers, in three small Tasmanian their customers, improve quality and reduce the
evaluating the deal. communities, will be connected. At the beginning transmission costs of data across the network.
of July, The Age reported that robert Pettman, Telstra has earmarked 12 points on its Next IP
16
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