Fed: Cabinet to debate Telstra sale as parliament resumes

AAP General News (Australia)
08-14-2005
Fed: Cabinet to debate Telstra sale as parliament resumes

CANBERRA, Aug 14 AAP - The federal government's controversial plan to sell Telstra
should take a step forward this week with cabinet to debate the precise details of the
sale.

The Telstra sale plan is expected to be top of cabinet's agenda when it meets on Tuesday,
the same day parliament resumes for the second week of its spring session.

The debate by cabinet comes after Telstra's chief executive Sol Trujillo last week
urged the government to chip in to a $5 billion plan to roll out hi-tech services to the
bush.

Prime Minister John Howard has sent the plan off to be reviewed by government experts,
who will then advise cabinet.

However Communications Minister Helen Coonan has questioned why taxpayers should contribute
to the plan when Telstra should fix up problems with its existing network.

She has also appeared reluctant to meet Telstra's call to relax the amount of regulations
it is subject to.

Cabinet is expected to consider suggestions on how best to proceed with the sale based
on recommendations laid out in an 1,100 page scoping study.

The study has come up with a range of recommendations on the timing of the sale, its
structure and the type of shares to be offered.

However the likelihood of Senator Coonan sticking to her plan of introducing legislation
for the sale to parliament this month is diminishing.

Senator Coonan last month flagged the legislation could be ready by August, but this
week is the last parliament will sit for the month.

Last week Senator Coonan said while it was still possible the legislation could be
introduced in August there were many other issues with the sale that needed to be addressed.

The Telstra sale is also expected to feature heavily in outspoken Nationals senator
Barnaby Joyce's first speech to the Senate on Thursday.

Senator Joyce is so far standing by his threat to vote against the sale unless Telstra's
services in the bush improve.

He is also concerned about the government's plan to abolish compulsory university student
union fees and workplace reforms.

Debate on the push to abolish compulsory student union fees will resume in the lower
house this week.

And more than 500 trucks are expected to converge on Canberra as part of a protest
by the Transport Workers Union against the government's workplace reforms.

The union says the convoy will be the largest mobile demonstration against the planned
changes to industrial relations laws.

AAP bt/oek/jlw

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