Steve Hutchins (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

My question is also to Senator Coonan, the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. I refer the minister to the front-page article in today’s Daily Telegraph newspaper, entitled ‘Telstra: the school bully’. Is it true that Telstra plans to double the line rental charges to NSW schools who choose to take advantage of lower call rates with other telecommunications providers? Is the minister also aware that the line rental increases will hit some of the most vulnerable schools in New South Wales, in areas like Raby and Minto? Hasn’t the minister’s failure to rein in the soon-to-be-privatised Telstra resulted in money that schools could have been spending on new books and facilities, going into Telstra’s back pocket? What action will the minister take to prevent Telstra from exploiting its position at the expense of New South Wales schools and their students?