Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

That is a decision that individuals in our Australian community will have to make with respect to investing in Telstra. Telstra has said that those staff who face job losses will be offered redundancy packages, that where possible alternative employment will be given—hopefully on the Sunshine Coast—and that there will be assistance from Telstra to help the employees find positions with other employers. When I was telephoned by Jason Law, the Telstra Country Wide manager, who I must say does an absolutely outstanding job—he was the messenger; he was notified and had no role in this decision—I asked him whether the jobs were being exported to Bangalore in India. But I was told that that was not the case and that Telstra does not actually have offshore call centres.

To sum up: this is an appalling decision which adversely affects the financial situation of coast families who have undertaken commitments and bought houses with the expectation of an ongoing role with Telstra. Telstra’s public relations exercise is appalling. The board stands condemned.

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