nbn just a symptom

Whilst not really wanting to mention RUDD , one is really forced to in any discussion about Telstra. Why? Because Telstras future is directly influenced by the Rudd philosophy that is becoming clearer by the day.

This philosophy is not one of a man with a vision , but one of a man on a massive power grab the likes of which this country has never seen before. This is a man who was elected by a stale voting public looking for a change from Howard. A voting public who embraced his refreshing ideas and "difference" to the John Howard who had become set in his ways. That was the "Get me elected first" Rudd.

Now we have the "dictatorial unappolagetic, nanny state" Rudd.
One that wants as much power to be centralised in Canberra as possible. The efforts to grab back control are there plain to see.

Mining: The super tax , which effectively takes from the rich mining company's = "the ones everyone loves to hate" and puts it in Rudds hands so that he can buy more votes.

Cigarettes: The new tax on cigarettes- again takes from the rich tobacco conpanies = "the ones everyone loves to hate" and puts it in rudds hands so that he can buy more votes.

Health Care: The new funding arrangements- again everyone hates the state run health care system and its problems "the ones everyone loves to hate". It takes the funding away from the state governments and puts it in the hands of Rudd so that he can buy more votes

Telecommunications: The NBN . There is no doubt that Telstra is another company "that everyone loves to hate" There are many posters here that tweet on about their bad experiences with Telstra customer service. they are not wrong just illustrating that Telstra is a company that people love to have a gripe about. But they conveniently ignore that most other telcos have just as many problems.

The article discusses the lengths that Rudd will go to effectively confiscate the income generated by the Telstra network and use it to fund the NBN . Yet again another soft target that is being pilfered by Rudd to allow him to centralise yet another part of our economy http://www.businessday.com.au/business/nbn-exposed-as-a-commercial-failure-20100507-uinf.html

"f you hold the McKinsey-KPMG study a certain way, rotate it 90 degrees, stand with your back to the light, and then shut your eyes, it makes Comrade Conroy look like a genius. I guess that's the way the Minister sees it.
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On the other hand, if you don't have to read much between the lines to see that even for $25 million, the consultants had to stretch to find a way to make the Conroy vision thing kinda, sorta look viable. Conroy is only a genius if you believe the report line that the left faction bovver boy was able to work out on the back of an envelope the cost of rolling out the NBN to within a couple of hundred million dollars at the high end of the pricing.

Without stretching at all, the study finds the NBN is not a viable commercial proposition in the real world sense. It only works if the government exploits its power to prevent competition, maybe plays both sides of the street as a wholesaler and retailer, finances it at the government bond rate and owns and runs the thing. Yes folks, the NBN takes us back to the days of the PMG the Post Master General's department, before Telstra or even Telecom existed."