An Independent MP has escalated his calls for the federal government to buy out Telstra, claiming the telecommunications giant has failed to provide adequate phone service to thousands of people living in regional and rural areas.
Bob Katter has written to Communications Minister Michelle Rowland urging to overhaul universal service obligations to include mobile phone services, after his office was flooded with “hundreds” of complaints from constituents experiencing a lack of communications around regular service outages and poor phone reception.
He claimed the company’s recent decision to axe 2800 jobs by the end of the year was part of a bid to maximise profits “at the expense of customers, particularly in rural and regional areas”.
“Essential services must be provided for by government – water, sewerage, electricity, and telecommunications. There are others, but these are the basics,” Mr Katter said in a statement.
“In our case in North Queensland, with frequent cyclones and flooding, it can be a matter of life and death – either you get to make the call for help, or you don’t.”
Telstra has been contacted for comment.
Former Liberal Prime Minister John Howard first initiated the sale of Telstra in 1997, which became fully privatised in 2011.
The company now has more than one million shareholders and is one of the most widely held ASX-listed companies.
In his letter, which was co-addressed to Treasurer Jim Chalmers, Mr Katter asked for an investigation into one of Telstra’s largest overseas shareholders, HSBC, citing “national security” concerns and an “unwillingness” to oblige by universal service obligations.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Dr Chalmers said he would be seeking advice from the competition regulator on its decision to sack almost 10 per cent of its workforce.
“We’re thinking of all of the families who are impacted by these big job cuts at a major Australian employer. We need to make sure that the services don’t suffer as a consequence of these changes,” he told reporters.
Telstra has said it will save about $350m per year as a result of the recent job cuts.
The telco has told investors it expected to make an $8.4-8.7bn pre-tax, pre-interest profit in the 2025 financial year.