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Please disregard any previous versions of Mr Ettridge's application to the Supreme Court of Queensland - I received this version this morning which I'm told is the final version as filed.
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Under the deal, Telstra will be paid billions of dollars to lease its ducts, tunnels and exchanges, and to shift customers from its copper phone lines onto the NBN’s fibre-optic network.
In 2011, Telstra estimated the net present value of the agreements, which were resoundingly endorsed by shareholders, at $11 billion. Deutsche Bank analyst Vikas Gour has estimated that Telstra could be paid $25 billion in nominal terms between now and 2025.
JOHN MCDULING
Federal cabinet rejected recommendations from one of the government’s top financial advisers to take a tougher approach in negotiations with Telstra over the national broadband network.
According to multiple sources close to the negotiations, investment bank Lazard pushed for lengthier non-compete clauses preventing Telstra from building fixed-line infrastructure long after the NBN is finished – slated for June 2021.
Lazard, which advised the government on the $11 billion transaction, also raised concerns about the size of payments to compensate Telstra for the loss of its wholesale monopoly and for access to its fixed-line infrastructure.
RECOMMENDATIONS REJECTED
A broad range of advice was prepared by senior Lazard bankers, including chief executive John Wylie, for cabinet before the deal was signed in June 2011. It is understood these two recommendations were rejected.
“This was a political project and a political decision was made to push ahead as quickly as possible,” said one source. “This was not a project about commercial outcomes. It was about political outcomes.”
The federal opposition has confirmed it intends to dramatically scale back the NBN if elected. This would require the complicated agreements with Telstra, which run into thousands of pages, to be renegotiated.
According to the AusTender website, Lazard was paid $3.9 million for 18 months of NBN advice.
The office of Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said the government “considered a range of advice in making its investment decision, including from NBN Co, external advisers, and government departments”.
A spokesman said: “The government determined that the commercial structure and arrangements of NBN Co were fair and appropriate.”
Senior government sources played down the decision, saying that, as is usually the case with cabinet submissions, a range of options was put to ministers, and there were some conflicting opinions.
You only get one Stephen Conroy in your life.
This from the Daily Telegraph today
A LAWSUIT by One Nation Party co-founder David Ettridge against federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott will head to court next month.
Mr Ettridge is suing federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott for damages of more than $1.5 million.
He has accused Mr Abbott of acting unlawfully in 1998 by assisting and encouraging litigation against One Nation in the Queensland courts.
Mr Ettridge alleges the court action was false and malicious and the resulting damage affected him greatly.
Mr Ettridge's lawyers served legal papers on Mr Abbott for damages on the weekend.
A directions hearing is set for the Brisbane Supreme Court on May 9 and Mr Abbott has received a summons to attend.
"Before Tony Abbott can become prime minister of Australia he needs to be judged on his suitability to hold the highest office in Australia," Mr Ettridge told AAP in a statement."For his role in this disgraceful period of Australian political history, Tony Abbott has never been brought to account."
This from The Australian today
Rich white people. Virginia Trioli, ABC News 24 yesterday:
THE contrast of course with what goes on in . . . Iraq . . . and also in Afghanistan . . . We did report this morning, of course, that there were a series of bomb attacks overnight in Iraq . . . That's the contrast that we always have on a day like today when it seems to me where we are overly focusing on what happens to rich white people in the West, versus what happens on a daily basis in those countries.
Rich white people? Boston.com, Monday:
LELISA Desisa won the men's race at the 117th Boston Marathon Monday . . . a 23-year-old Ethiopian . . . Rita Jeptoo . . . the 2006 champion from Kenya . . . (won) the women's elite race . . . Kenyan Sharon Charop . . . and Meseret Hailu of Ethiopia . . . (came third and second).
and here
Barnaby and I had arranged to go for a walk for an hour or so this morning at 5AM.
Ram-raiders in a stolen car had other ideas for the early hours of this morning. They hit the convenience store next to Barnaby's hotel, smashing the glass front and knocking in the steel shutters.
The poor man whose life savings were in the shop had this now forlorn note taped to the inside of his plate glass window - the shattered window was strewn down Philip Street and around the corner.
Their target was the ATM - but with the law courts opposite and security fairly obvious even in the early hours, they were unable to grab it - they settled for the cash register and took off.
Barnaby and I had a chat about it as we headed off for our walk.
Thanks BBPD
Here's the home page for Business Spectator's CEO Pulse Report - 88 CEOs with an Australian turnover of $100 million or more, in a five minute survey between April 2 and April 14.
Here are a few comments for Wayne Swan:
“Resign immediately … I would have fired this individual if he was in my organisation.”
“Resign, because he has proven to be incompetent by predicting a surplus and now reality has delivered a deficit.”
“Be very open about the shortfall in the budget, and then resign.”
You can download the report here. Here are a few of the graphs to whet your appetite