Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Aged Care, Disabilities and Carers) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Coonan, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. Is the minister aware of reports today about the closure of Telstra call centres in Cairns and Maroochydore, with the loss of around 180 jobs? Is it true that these employees were told by Telstra yesterday, the day after the T3 prospectus was released, that the centres were to close and that they would all lose their jobs just before Christmas? Wasn’t this callous decision affecting 180 families in two regional centres taken by Telstra in pursuit of their policy of high revenue sales and minimising the number of Telstra locations? What does the minister have to say to these workers and their families about why they are being sacrificed by Telstra this Christmas?