Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Coonan, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. I refer the minister to Telstra’s plans to axe 5,000 payphones throughout the country, cutting an essential lifeline for many Australians. Is the minister aware that Telstra had originally planned to dump 25,000 of its 30,000 payphones and believed that it would not be prevented from doing so by existing regulations? Can the minister confirm that there is nothing to stop Telstra from slashing more than 80 per cent of its payphones throughout Australia? Is it not true that government regulations designed to ensure Telstra maintains its presence in rural and regional Australia have been shown to be completely ineffectual by this affair?