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Letters to Editor

Dear Editor, 

The Prime Minister's 'revelation', to listeners of Radio 3AW, on 26 November, that privatisation won't fix Telstra's problems, is hardly news to anyone familiar with this issue. However, why wasn't he so candid before 9 October? During the interview, he asked, rhetorically, "will it be any better if it remained 50 per cent in government hands?", and then immediately answered his own question in the negative. 

To the contrary, we believe that, if his Government, as Telstra's controlling stakeholder, had the political will to provide us with a 21st century telecommunications network, it could do so. However, John Howard has clearly shown, on this and past occasions, that he is lacking in this regard. The Australian people, who remain strongly opposed to the sale, are entitled to have the Government call off its privatisation plans altogether, or, if not, at least have the question put to them in a plebiscite so that they can finally have a real say over this vital issue. 

Yours sincerely, 

James Sinnamon, Petrie Terrace, Qld convenor of Citizens Against Selling Telstra http://www.citizensagainstsellingtelstra.com

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