Janelle Saffin (Page, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am still struggling to understand how Telstra can continue with its plan to close its Lismore call centre, which is based in Goonellabah, axing 116 jobs. I recently spoke in this place about Telstra's lack of corporate social responsibility and its lack of corporate conscience. Yes, it offers community awards and does sponsorships but, really, jobs must come first, not the other stuff. Corporate social responsibility is affected if you do not care about your own workers first.

A few things have transpired since I last spoke in this place. One of those is a community campaign that has seen over 5,000 people—I think it is now up to about 5½ thousand—sign a petition that reads:

We the undersigned citizens of the Northern Rivers call upon Telstra Business CEO Mr David Thodey to intervene immediately to halt any plan to axe up to 116 jobs of employees at Telstra Call Centre in Goonellabah.

We further object to Telstra abandoning its workforce in country Australia and moving jobs offshore, while recording massive profits ($3.4 billion) and awarding generous salary increases for executives.

With the community campaign for the petition a whole lot of people have been involved, particularly my husband, Jim, who has been out coordinating and doing the work on the ground, and I thank him for that.

But guess what? Two other things have happened that really, really rile me to do with Telstra. One is that in the midst of axing jobs not only in Lismore but also in Townsville and other places mooted around Australia—and who knows where else?—Telstra bosses gave themselves a pay rise. One local online comment in the Northern Star newspaper likened it to 'a reward for inefficiency and incompetence'. I had this to say about it:

… Telstra demonstrated this week that it does look after some on the payroll.

"Today local union members and community members organised a sausage sizzle outside the Telstra Call Centre in Goonellabah to protest against the closure.

"Telstra is proposing to close the centre next month with the loss of 116 jobs, and so far about 5000 people have signed petitions calling for Telstra to keep the centre open and save local jobs.

"I have complained to CEO David Thodey about the cruelty of the cuts, and asked him to treat staff well.

"I did not realise when he promised we would look after Telstra people that he meant to start at the top.

"In what is impeccable timing, Telstra's lodged its annual report with the Australian Securities Commission this week, and it includes the news that Mr Thodey is to receive an extra $247,000 in his fixed salary starting 1 October.

"The report shows that Mr Thodey's salary package, including shares and incentive payments, went from $5.1 million in 2011 to $7.69 million in 2012 and now it is to go up by about a quarter of a million.

"In fact, Telstra has found more than $7 million to increase the pay of its type nine executives in the past 12 months.

"And yet they say they have to make this difficult decision of cutting 116 jobs here in Lismore.

"The sad point is, it appears that the executives' incentive payments and share packages rise the more jobs they cut.

"No wonder so many people are outraged at this corporate heartlessness.

Today we also found out—I read it online in various places and also in the Sydney Morning Heraldthat Telstra is getting another windfall, pocketing hundreds of millions of dollars in future years due to the competition watchdog effectively cutting the price paid for each minute a phone call spends on another mobile network, from 9c to 6c. This 3c reduction gives Telstra $18 million. Did they pass it on to us customers? No. Maybe they used it to top up the CEO's and executive's salary rises.

Also, Telstra has increased mobile calls on basic phone plans from 35c to 36c. I also remember reading that they are increasing landline costs. There are two things I want to say. One thing about Telstra is that it is almost like it needs an independently funded ombudsman—a Telstra watch—maybe run through CHOICE or something like that so that it is transparent and we get good access. There are a lot of things happening there that we just do not know about. I have said to locals that it is hard when you are contracted with them. Start demanding that we get serviced by locals and that they have local jobs. It will not happen overnight— (Time expired)