Those of you living in Melbourne might consider attending the...

Those of you living in Melbourne might consider attending the meeting mentioned below:

From: "Fielding, Steve " [[email protected]]
Date: 25/03/2010 10:24 AM
Subject: RE: Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Competition and Consumer Safeguards) Bill

Dear John

Thank you for taking the time to email me in relation to the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Competition and Consumer Safeguards) Bill dealing with the proposal to structurally or functionally separate Telstra.

As you would be aware, the legislation has not yet been voted on in the Senate and is now due to come up for debate in May when Parliament resumes.

Many people have shown enormous interest in this issue and I have agreed to speak about this topic at an event being put on by the Australian Shareholders Association on Thursday, 1 April 2010 at 1pm in the Yarra Room at the Melbourne Town Hall.

The event is open to all members of the public and I would encourage you to attend this event if you would like to hear my views on this issue. There will also be an opportunity for people to ask questions.

Are you based in Victoria? I look forward to seeing you on Thursday.

Regards,

Senator Steve Fielding
Leader of Family First
255 Blackburn Road
Mount Waverley, VIC 3149
Ph: (03) 9802 1922
www.stevefielding.com.au

-----Original Message-----

Sent: Wednesday, 10 March 2010 11:13 AM
To: Fielding, Steve (Senator)
Subject: Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Competition and Consumer Safeguards) Bill

Voting against the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Competition and
Consumer Safeguards) Bill 2009 will be supported by many in the community.

The Bill is clearly designed, in part, to break up and cripple a major Australian company, Telstra, which former Governments sold to the public as a secure and sound investment. If the current Government believes the
structure of Telstra requires change, it should repurchase the company at a fair price and then make whatever changes it desires. It is completely unfair and inequitable to make those from whom the Government originally profited (when they sold the Company), accept, in the name of competition,
the cost of Telstras forced demise.

Senator Conroy understands that there could be a constitutional requirement that the Government compensate Telstra if it acquires the Company or Telstras assets. He is reported to believe that court awarded compensation could exceed $20 billion and that Government should do all it can to work around this constitutional obligation. Instead he is seeking to use the legislative powers of Parliament to blackmail Telstra into agreeing to voluntarily structural separation and the sale, at a
substantial discount, of its asserts to the Government. Sounds more like the approach of an autocratic dictatorship rather than that of the executive of a democratic Australia. Thank God for the checks and balances the existence of the Senate affords our citizens.