Paul McIntyre: Bigwigs flinging corporate mud

Mud was flying at a furious pace this week between all sorts of corporate bigwigs and the good news is that more of the stuff is set to launch next week.

Actually, Telstra's farmer-chairman Donald McGauchie threw more than paddock mud earlier this week - it was a compound closer to a byproduct of his cattle herd - at the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Graeme Samuel.

McGauchie, flat out trying to make his telco mothership look good for a float, had obviously had enough of the public snooping and sniping from Samuel and let rip at his "sarcasm, derision and ridicule" towards Telstra.

But if McGauchie thought that would shut Samuel up, he was deeply misguided. On Thursday, out comes Samuel at a conference in Canberra flagging the ACCC's intention to crack down on Telstra's attempts to use exclusive rights to sports broadcasts to get an unfair advantage in content distribution for broadband and mobile phone platforms.

It's a new line from Samuel, but it does signal the ACCC is ready to take on phone companies as the control of content becomes crucial for emerging digital media technologies.

Telstra has stitched up the internet and mobile phone rights to Aussie rules, horse racing, motor racing and rugby league for its broadband portal, BigPond, in a bid to boost subscriber numbers.

Samuel this week singled out Telstra for its ability to control content and shut out others trying to offer phone, internet and video services over broadband networks - Telstra also owns 50 per cent of pay TV operator Foxtel and all the content opportunities which come with that property.

Telstra remains tight-lipped about the popularity of its video streaming of content among BigPond customers but the monthly figures are said to be upwards of 600,000 for its various sports packages.

"The ACCC would look closely at any company, and particularly a telecommunications network owner, which concurrently had exclusive broadcasting rights to a number of major sporting competitions or events in Australia," Samuel said this week.

"The ACCC will continue to closely scrutinise the acquisition of exclusive rights to content to ensure that no carrier is able to use them to create a major barrier to entry into infrastructure markets."

Hang around for the McGauchie-Samuel punch-up to continue.

And while we're still on Telstra, that money-making machine called Macquarie Bank may well have just blown its chance to manage the lucrative job of handling Telstra's A$27 billion ($28.9 billion) privatisation after a security breach on another A$300 million government project.

The Defence Department confirmed on Thursday it was investigating the breach by a Macquarie staffer working on the bank's contract to advise on the A$300 million Headquarters Joint Operations Command near Canberra.

The investigation will centre on the staffer's use of confidential information about the project being sent to staff in other parts of the bank. The problem for Macquarie is that probity is one of four key selection criteria for Telstra's float managers to be appointed. The incident has also increased concerns about how investment banks manage potential conflict of interest issues.

Getting a rich life

But on a brighter and less feisty note, the chief executive of Leighton Holdings, Wal King, who pocketed A$35.8 million in salary and bonuses last financial year, declared this week that he should have a life other than being chief executive and did think about not renewing his now renewed contract.

"That sort of thought goes through your mind because I have an extremely large number of personal interests, from skiing to hiking," he said. "I think most people should have a life other than being a chief executive."

Fair point, Wal. And for the record, his new three-year contract includes a base salary of A$2.7 million with the potential to earn up to A$6.5 million extra a year. The whopping figure King landed last financial year included benefits and interest accrued between 1988 and 2000.

Leighton chairman Phil Ashton defended King's remuneration deal, saying he had turned the company, worth A$100 million 18 years ago, into one of the top contractors in the world.Paul McIntyre is a Sydney journalist