Coonan plays down voter opposition to Telstra sale

CANBERRA - Communications Minister Senator Helen Coonan has played down the results of a poll showing the overwhelming majority of Australians do not want Telstra sold.

Around 70 per cent of people surveyed were against the A$30 billion ($32.98 billion) sale, compared with 66 per cent in July 2002, according to a Newspoll published in News Ltd newspapers today.

Support for the sale has dropped four per cent over the past three years to 16 per cent.

But Senator Coonan today tried to minimise the importance of the poll's results.

"I think it needs to be balanced against the other results in the poll, which clearly indicate that people are much happier with their services," she told the Nine network.

The poll also showed public satisfaction with Telstra's services and charges had increased in many areas, with the biggest rise in the country.

Seventy-nine per cent of people in non-capital cities said they were satisfied with Telstra's services and just over half reported satisfaction with charges.

Senator Coonan said there would be no money to protect services into the future unless the remaining 50.8 per cent of Telstra still in public hands was sold.

"Unless we sell Telstra there is not going to be a large chunk of money to look at future-proofing services," she said.

Telstra last week announced a A$4.4 billion net profit.

But Senator Coonan said the government could still regulate Telstra without owning it.

"Services have only got better the less the government has actually owned of Telstra and we will continue to look after people because we regulate the licence conditions of all carriers.

"We don't have to own Telstra in order to regulate it and continue to provide for consumers appropriately."

Federal cabinet will today debate a A$3 billion package to improve telecommunication services in the bush, which includes A$1 billion to roll out broadband internet services in rural areas.

The remainder of the package is made up of a A$2 billion trust suggested by Nationals leader Mark Vaile.

But Telstra chief executive Sol Trujillo has asked fund managers to help him put pressure on the government to block government-proposed regulatory changes to the industry.

According to reports in the Financial Review, Mr Trujillo told fund managers at a lunch in Sydney yesterday the government needed to wind back telecommunications regulations.

Senator Coonan said the government would not wind back regulation, but said relations between the government and Telstra were cordial.

"The relationship between Telstra and the government is, of course, cordial," she said.

"We are not going to be winding back regulation that has been well developed in this country that provides minimum legislative safeguards for consumers. We will not be rolling those back."

- AAP