Dear Mr President,

Pursuant to standing order 75, I give notice that today I propose to move:

“That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:

(1)   Telstra’s secret plans to remove at least 5 000 payphones throughout Australia, including nearly 1 300 phones in rural and regional Australia;

(2)   The revelations that under the current regulatory regime, Telstra would be able to remove around 25 000 of its 32 000 payphones;

(3)   The fact that the Minister was unaware of Telstra’s plans before they were reported in the media;

(4)   Telstra’s failure to reveal these plans under questioning on the issue during Senate Estimates; and

(5)   The fact that the Government’s privatisation agenda is already resulting in telecommunications services throughout Australia being slashed.

Yours sincerely

Stephen Conroy