Prediction - Sale of Telstra Outcomes

Well, well, well. Poor old Barnaby couldn't hack it and sold us out. It will be interesting to hear who much the NFF have been paid off - talk about changing their tune very quickly.

Anyhow, as it now a fait a compli, lets consider the downstream effects.

1. Telstra Countrywide - Closed

An easy buy in and previously discussed. It may "continue" but it will be based out of a capital city (perhaps Adelaide to give the feel it still is in the country).

2. Massive Job Losses

I know a figure of 14,000 has been mooted - who knows what it will be but we all know it WILL happen. Again, look at the track record of the banks. Every time the market sneezes, they slash another 1000 jobs. They won't all go at once, but over 4-5 years...

3. "$2b Fund, What $2b Fund?"

The "up to $2b" hint in the initial legistation was the key here. You watch the pollies start backing out of the "promise" over the next 18 months. Remember Keating's L A W law tax cuts? What is it with people? Are they just ignorant?, do they have short-memories?, are they just thinking about their back pockets? But let it be known, if it get anywhere NEAR $2b I'll be amazed.

The other factor here is how much will actually get spent in the bush? You watch it get hung drawn and quartered for every pot-belly excuse for a problem in the future. Perhaps even for water problems et al...

4. $1b Infrastructure Boost

Another area to keep an eye on. It's going to cost the government a pretty penny to push this out as a prospectus - keep an eye on how much of the $1b gets drawn away in pre-Sales charges...

5. What About The Future???

And this to me is the biggest problem. Even if they score the whole $2b for future investment, what happens when the next BIG infrastrucure change happens in telephony? Back in the '80s Telecom funded the entire replacement of exchanges to become digital. What happens if we need to do that again? Will Telstra bankroll the deal? You've got to be joking...

So what does all this mean? Well folks, lets just hope everyone remembers WHICH party backed the sale (Libs) and WHICH party allowed it to happen (Nats) - and lets run 'em out of office ASAP.