Telco deal rejected

By SIMON COLLINS

Former Communications Minister Maurice Williamson has confirmed that Telecom NZ turned down a chance to be Australia's second telephone provider in 1991.

But he accused former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating of "rewriting history" when he told the conference that the NZ Government put the interests of Brierley Investments ahead of a chance for Air New Zealand to buy Australia's Ansett.

Mr Keating said a former NZ Government "walked away from the opportunity" for Telecom NZ to take Australia's second telephone licence when his Government decided to allow a single competitor for Telstra.

Mr Williamson confirmed that Mr Keating's Communications Minister, Kim Beazley, offered to give the licence to Telecom NZ.

Mr Williamson passed the offer on to Telecom, which had been privatised. "NZ Telecom chose, for whatever reason, not to do it," he said.

The Telecom chairman at the time, Peter Shirtcliffe, said he could not recall the proposal being put to the board. The board would have been unlikely to go into such a deal because of the pressure of restructuring the formerly state-owned entity.

Mr Williamson said Mr Keating "pulled the plug" on a joint transtasman aviation market in 1994. It would have allowed Air NZ to fly to, within and beyond Australia on the same basis as an Australian firm.

Mr Williamson said Mr Keating's decision came after pressure from News Corp's Rupert Murdoch, whose group then owned half of Ansett.

Other Herald features

Our turn

The jobs challenge