I believe that putting important public assets into select private hands is not in Australia's long-term interests, and oppose the partial/full sale of Telstra for the reasons that the Government has given.

The argument the Government has given for the privatisation and corporatisation of Telstra has been a budget conscious one where the proceeds of Telstra will provide a "one-off" opportunity to:

1) abolish Telstra's pastoral call rate and provide untimed local calls in extended zones in remote Australia;

2) increase funding for Networking the nation; and

3) pay off foreign debt left over by the previous government

However, this is not true as the Minister, Senator Alston already has the power to direct Telstra to provide services and upgrade infrastructure (points 1 and 2). If the USO (Universal Service Obligations Act) or performance standards under the CSG need changing, then the Minister should invoke his power to direct, and these changes should be made distinct from any attempts to sell Telstra.

The Democrats and the Labor Party also disapprove of the privatisation of Telstra for the above reasons.

merely for the purposes of profit and shareholder interests.

Some common words found in the essay are:
USO CSO, PRIVATISATION TELSTRA, Board Directors, Union CEPU, Statutory Body, Pay TV, Cumbersome Finally, Consumer Commission, Optus Vodaphone, China Indo-China, sale telstra, public ownership, service obligations, community service obligations, deterioration services, rule telstra, price caps, telstra reasons, private hands, telstra provide, competition rule telstra, local calls,
Approximate Word count = 1711
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)