Judith Adams (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Senator McLucas mentioned the Telstra job cuts in the Cairns and Maroochydore call centres. No doubt she is very concerned because those places are located in her electorate of Queensland. When Labor was last in power, unemployment was at 10.9 per cent and one million Australians were unemployed. Over the last 9½ years we have seen 1.8 million extra jobs created in Australia. Almost one million of those 1.8 million jobs have been full-time jobs. In relation to Telstra’s job numbers, Labor has no credibility. Telstra’s staff numbers fell from 90,000 to 76,000 between 1990 and 1992. At that time, Kim Beazley was the communications minister. Since then, the competitive framework set by the government has allowed more than 150 providers to enter the industry, which, according to the International Telecommunication Union, employs approximately 77,000 people. Work commissioned by the Australian Communications and Media Authority, ACMA, estimated that the government’s competition reforms in 1997 have increased employment by around 23,300 people. Service standards have also improved over this time.

The government is focused on ensuring that consumers reap the benefits of new technologies, lower prices and better services. And we will ensure that all carriers, including Telstra, comply with their regulatory obligations—unlike the Labor Party, which revealed yesterday that, if elected, it would water down the regulatory regime and the key consumer protections in order to boost Telstra’s share price. Labor opposes what it referred to yesterday as ‘government imposed regulation which threatens Telstra’s earning prospects’. What this means is that Labor will water down the regulatory arrangements, leaving consumers stranded, all to boost the share price of the largest and most profitable telecommunications provider in the country—this from a party and a shadow spokesperson who have accused the government of fattening the Telstra calf for market day. What extraordinary hypocrisy from the Labor Party. The evidence shows that encouraging competition has benefited all Australians and the overall economy by creating jobs and reducing prices for telecommunications services.

Yes, Telstra is reducing its workforce. But remember that there are 150 other telecommunications companies in Australia who are employing Australians as well, and we now have record low unemployment in this country. Under Labor, unemployment was at record highs and the telecommunications market was a cosy duopoly consisting of just Telstra and Optus.

In relation to the Cairns and Maroochydore Telstra call centre closures, it is disappointing news because it does affect 83 staff in each centre. The government never likes to hear about job losses, particularly in regional communities. Telstra has advised that all affected staff in Cairns and Maroochydore will receive full redundancy benefits to assist them to find other employment, either internally or externally. This includes assistance with career planning, financial planning and advice, preparation of CVs and interview skills, and assistance with internal and external job searches. These job cuts are part of Telstra’s much-publicised transformation program, which was announced in November 2005. Telstra’s transformation program involves reducing its workforce numbers by around 10,000 over the next five years as a result of the introduction of new technologies— (Time expired)