Fed: Joyce heads home to play waiting game

AAP General News (Australia)
08-20-2005
Fed: Joyce heads home to play waiting game

By Darrin Barnett

CANBERRA, Aug 20 AAP - Queensland Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce arrived back in his
hometown of St George today to await his party's judgement on the government's offer of
a $3 billion sweetener to smooth a Telstra sell-off.

He was returning home after a frenetic first fortnight in federal parliament where
it seemed towards the end he would back the government proposal.

He has since let it be known his decision on the fate of Telstra is far from a done deal.

Senator Joyce has distributed an email asking Queensland Nationals members for feedback
on the government's $3 billion proposal and the party's state management committee has
also sent information to party members on the deal.

Prime Minister John Howard last week won partyroom support for selling the government's
remaining 51.8 per cent share of the telco, although Senator Joyce is yet to confirm he
will back the move.

To garner the support of the Nationals, the government has pledged a $3 billion package
of sweeteners, including a special fund that would cover the cost of upgrading country
telecommunication services.

The Queensland Nationals' 47 management committee is to vet the package before Senator
Joyce decides whether to support the sale.

"I just want to make sure that we get an honest decision back from them about what
they believe is right to do," Senator Joyce told ABC Radio's AM program today.

"We've got the best deal we possibly can get but if they're not happy with it, they
have got to feel that they're quite free to turn it down."

Many in the Queensland Nationals are said to believe the party's future rests with
their decision on Telstra, and Senator Joyce concedes that doing a bad deal could be devastating.

"We're not going to be railroaded into anything," he said.

"We're going to make sure that everybody's comfortable with what we've got because
once it's sold you won't get it back, so people have got to be happy with the deal that
they've got on the table.

"If people are happy with it, we go forward, if they are ambivalent with it, we probably
go forward but if they are dead unhappy with it, well, then we don't."

Mr Howard is thought to be trying to shore up the support of either Australian Democrats
senator Andrew Murray or Family First senator Steve Fielding should Senator Joyce's vote
not be forthcoming.

The prime minister this week said he couldn't guarantee that every Australian's personal
telecommunication services would improve once Telstra was sold into private hands.

But he said customers would have greatly improved services in general, and services
which are fairly evenly available throughout the country.

Opposition Leader Kim Beazley seized on Mr Howard's comments, saying the only way to
keep pressure on Telstra to keep improving services to country areas was to keep it in
government hands.

AAP db/arb

KEYWORD: TELSTRA JOYCE

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