To the Honourable the Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives in Parliament assembled. We the undersigned citizens of the electorate of Swan respectfully showeth:

That the plan by the Australian Telecommunications Commission to withdraw public telegram facilities and downgrade telegram standards by:

(1) planning to withdraw the 24 hour telegraph service at the Chief Telegraph Office in each capital city and in Canberra and Darwin,

(2) closing country telegraph offices,

(3) increasing telegram charges whilst downgrading the service,

(4) withdrawing telegram operating facilities from a large number of suburban and country post offices,

(5) generating serious delays in telegram delivery by reducing standards of service through centralisation of the network and reduction of operating and delivery staff,

will reduce an available means of communications in commercial enterprise, deny the opportunity for people of Australia to make contact with family and friends in times of emergency, and civil or natural disasters, particularly for the 30 per cent of Australians who are not telephone subscribers.

Your petitioners therefore humbly pray that the Government will take measures to ensure the maintenance of an efficient, effective public telegram service to meet the needs of the Australian people socially, publicly, commercially and in times of emergencies and civil or natural disasters.

And your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray.