Around the traps in the last few days.....

A bit of free promotion APN didn't need?
With the euthanasia debate heating up, I was amused to see that APN Outdoor received a bit of free promotion on the nightly news last week after one of its outdoor billboards advertising in Yagoona ran a large advert promoting the pro-choice position. Probably won't please the bishops.

Fine print on the back of that NBN envelope?
NATIONAL Broadband Network users will not be able to use their telephones in a power failure unless they pay for a back-up system.
Telstra copper lines will be replaced by NBN fibre as part of the $11 billion deal with the federal government.
NBN Co has a hands-off approach to ensuring lines will be available at all times.
Customers will rely on the fibre network for broadband and fixed telephone services. Each home and business will need a network termination unit for power.
The unit needs a standard 240 volt, 10 amp power outlet and without that it cannot work.
If the unit loses power, telephone lines will not work unless NBN users have a back-up battery system, an optional item under NBN Co guidelines.
The peak electrical body says NBN Co and the government must ensure service providers guarantee basic telephone services or people's lives could be in danger in emergencies.
The company says it will not supply, install or maintain the battery back-up. That means network users will have to purchase a back-up unit and battery, and ensure the unit is next to a power outlet.
Users must buy the back-up unit from their NBN service provider. The 12V 7.2Ah sealed lead acid battery for the back-up costs about $50. {The Australian 22nd October 2010}

NSW water raiders using #agchatoz to tweet their displeasure....
nswirrigators: 464 pages of Volume Two of #basinplan just released online. Saving the environment by ruining a forest? http://tinyurl.com/3x4umuw #agchatoz
nswirrigators: 3.30pm on the day #basinplan volume two was meant to be released and nothing yet. These people do not learn... #agchatoz #abcrural

A victim of friendly fire
"This is a debate that Australians need to have about the future of banking, and the banks now are clearly ignoring the government," Mr Hockey has said. "The Australian people need to know where the banking system is going."....
Liberal MP Don Randall launched into a withering attack on Mr Hockey's suggestion, labelling a "typical lunatic fringe idea" from the Greens - until it was pointed out that it came from the Coalition's top money man. "It's really going to have a negative effect on our economy ... it's really a worry". {news.com.au 21st October 2010}

Ad astra takes on Tony
Take the attack on the Government by Tony Abbott over the contemporary court martial of three Australian soldiers in Afghanistan. In a particularly contemptible assault he accused the Government of ‘stabbing the soldiers in the back’ and not giving them the support they deserved, of abandoning these men fighting as they are for their country. It was a powerful and aggressive strike. Yet what did the mild-mannered Stephen Smith say? He said Abbott’s words were ‘unfortunate’. Too right they were, but in the hurly burley of politics, words hardly like to make headlines, hardly likely to effectively rebut the Abbott charges.
I would have preferred him to say to Abbott: “How dare you have the temerity to make such outrageous accusations. It was the Howard Government, in which you were a minister that created the process for such trials of servicemen thought to be in contravention of the rules of engagement, and it had bipartisan support from Labor. You know perfectly well that in this process Government has no part to play, nor have politicians or politics. You know that this Government wants the process YOU established to bring about a considered outcome and that it wishes to play no part in it. Yet you come along with this completely illegitimate accusation which you know is dishonest, in order to score political points. And you were only too willing to enlist Alan Jones to promulgate this deception, something he was only too ready to do. Worse still, you allowed him, without contradiction, to denigrate the female prosecutor for laying the charges, even although you knew that she was acting completely in accordance with the process the Howard Government established. How dare you behave in this disgracefully disingenuous way, cast aspersions on those involved, and the Government too, although it is NOT involved. This is worse even that the usual low standards of political discourse which you employ. You are a disgrace.” {The Political Sword 22nd October 2010}

Too much fiction in Pollieville, U.K.?
A BRITISH MP enraged her constituents and her party after letting slip that her blog, which tells people how hard she works, is "70 per cent fiction".
Nadine Dorries, a Conservative MP for Mid Bedfordshire in southern England, made the admission to investigators during a sleaze inquiry that cleared her of abusing the Government's expenses system but found that she misled voters. {news.com.au 22nd October 2010}

Labor's plan to rescue the National Broadband Network and scale up rollout of fibre-to-the-premises

For everyone tired of the debacle that is the Abbott-Turnbull Government’s National Broadband Network (NBN) rollout, there may be some hope……..

http://www.100positivepolicies.org.au/

Labor Candidate For Page Janelle Saffin, media release, 13 June 2016:

An incoming Shorten Labor Government will direct NBN Co. to prioritise the rollout of Fibre-to-the-Premises NBN to homes and businesses across the electorate of Page. 

In the entire electorate of Page, not a single existing home or business will get Malcolm Turnbull’s second rate Fibre-to-the-Node network by 2016 as initially promised. Not one…

Janelle Saffin said that there was a lot of dissatisfaction in the region about Turnbull’s flawed NBN.

“Stephen and I spoke to Keda Ley and her family today to find out why the NBN matters so much to them,” Ms Saffin said.

“She is a mum of three who works and studies from home and she needs a strong, reliable Internet connection to make this happen.

“There are families just like the Ley family across the region; in the 21st century they need first-rate Internet services.

“Of course it isn’t just households who stand to benefit from Labor’s plan. Small business owners can’t compete if they are constantly being held back by an inferior broadband connection. 

“The NBN build has not even started in Grafton, Lismore, Alstonville, Casino, Evans Head, Woolgoolga and Yamba. These areas deserve better and Labor will deliver for them......

Question Time in the Australian House of Representatives reveals the arbitrary nature and downright absurdity of the National Broadband Network rollout

In Australia where the dead have better Internet access than the living……

Hansard, 16 October 2017:

Ms McBRIDE (Dobell) (14:53): My question is to the Prime Minister. We are now in the fifth year of this Prime Minister's mismanagement of the NBN. Is the Prime Minister aware that students at the Central Coast Rudolf Steiner School in Fountaindale can't connect to the NBN, even though Fountaindale has supposedly had the NBN since September last year? What sort of incompetence means that the cemetery behind the school has an NBN connection but the school doesn't? [my yellow highlighting]

Mr TURNBULL (Wentworth—Prime Minister) (14:54): I thank the honourable member for her question. I'm certainly happy, if she's able to raise the specific customer's details with me, to make sure it goes to the minister and to NBN Co. What I can say, if honourable members care to pay attention to the NBN's weekly rollout report, which I do—an example of transparency on the part of my government which had no counterpart under the Labor Party, I might say—is that every week the numbers go up, and there are currently over six million premises that are able to connect, and just under three million have services that are connected. So the rollout is going at great pace, and I'm sure the matter that the honourable member has raised will be able to be dealt with.

Yamba still in the NBN twilight zone

Akamai 2016 State of the Internet

The National Broadband Network (nbn) was established on 9 April 2009 to design, build and operate Australia's new broadband network.

By June 2017 it should reach the halfway mark in its build.

The cost of this national network is expected to reach $29.5 billion before the end of 2017 and require an est. $20 billion more to complete.

In 2011 58% of homes in the Clarence Valley local government area and 55% of homes in Yamba had a broadband internet connection.

The official population of Yamba as of the 30th June 2015 was 6,344 and this roughly doubles during peak holiday seasons.

By now over 1,744 homes are without decent upload/download speeds for their existing Internet connections - as well all the businesses internet connections in the two shopping/accommodation/dining precincts and small industrial area in this popular tourist destination.

Yet the given date for commencement of the rollout and current rate of progress, NBN connection for this town is still years away.

In fact, if the completion date of 2020 holds then Yamba is well and truly near the end of the queue.

National Broadband Network status for Yamba NSW 2464:

The rollout of the nbn™ network is planned in this area

Planned availability: Jan-Jun 2019*.

*This is an estimate and could change.

*The speeds actually experienced by end-users via fibre, fixed wireless or satellite will depend on a number of factors including the retail broadband plan they choose, their equipment and their in premises connection.

Given the way the build has been managed so far the extra money may run out before the NBN reaches Yamba and the town may yet have to buy shares in tin cans and string to compensate for the erratic performance of current Internet connections.

NBN roll out is still a dog's breakfast

Tasmanian Times on 5 February 2017 reminding Australia that the National Broadband Network (NBN) roll out is still a dog’s breakfast:

Letter to the Editor on the NBN

Alex Ratkai
05.02.17 6:45 am

We (in part of Nobelius Drive) have been experiencing constant loss of internet services since November 2015. When it is working, the speed is slower than cable internet- often taking between 10 and 30 minutes to view my mail, though we have high speed ADSL. Last July we received communication that the NBN was now available in Nobelius Drive. There was a Telstra truck parked near the shopping centre in Legana. With joy, I immediately went and signed up, with the promise that the NBN will be connected within a couple of weeks. In a couple of weeks’ time we received a call that part of our street wasn’t being connected, including us. I asked why and also for an indication of a time frame within which we may get it, asking whether it is weeks, months or years. Absolutely no commitment has been given. I was told that the local Telstra substation cannot handle the increased telephone and internet volumes and they aren’t able to do anything. They promised a fast internet service, when I signed up, delivering it for only a few years. Now we are left with no internet service often also an extremely poor or failing telephone service. We are in despair and no one seems to want to help. We live in an advanced country with a third world telephone and internet service. Is that what our country is to look forward to???
Help, someone help.

One petition signature every 3.5 seconds. Are you listening Malcolm Turnbull? We want Labor's NBN!

Computerworld 11 September 2013:

An internet petition set up by a Liberal-voting student to save Labor's national broadband network (NBN) has become Australia's largest ever online petition.

The internet appeal is roaring along, but still has some way to go before becoming Australia's largest ever petition, which was submitted to federal parliament with 792,985 signatures in 2000 calling for an end to rising beer prices.

The NBN petition calls on the incoming coalition government to scrap its plans to create a fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) network in place of Labor's existing fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) approach.

Created by Queenslander Nick Paine on Change.org less than five days ago, the petition overtook Australia's previous biggest online petition just after 11am (AEST) on Wednesday with 116,281 signatures. The prior one had 116,280 names.

That's one signature every 3.5 seconds.

The former frontrunner was a campaign to pressure advertisers to boycott radio shock jock Alan Jones in 2012 after he said former PM Julia Gillard's father "died of shame".

Mr Paine, 20, is a supporter of the coalition, but says no party is perfect.

"I personally just don't believe their policy reflects the best option for Australia and I don't think it reflects in general the majority of Australians' views," he said.

"There's no reason to just sit back and see what happens, you've got to try it out and stand up for what you believe in."

Mr Paine said it was the first online petition he's started.

The petition can be signed at change.org/nbn -- or share it on Facebook by clicking here.

Australian Prime Minster Malcolm Turnbull's NBN Broadband: Noely tells it like it is

Excerpt from My Broadband v Reality, Punters don’t know any better and that is just the way PM Turnbull likes it, 14 January 2016…….

For those of you who think the NBN has nothing to do with you, think about these scenarios:

How will you feel in years to come when your investment property is not valued as highly as similar properties in the neighbourhood just because punters finally wised up to the fact that they need to rent/buy a property that had fast, stable internet access and sadly due to circumstances beyond your control, you got the Thunderbox version of the NBN instead of the Indoor Throne like the other homes - there goes the extra for your pension?

How will you feel watching your child wait in emergency at the rural hospital for the specialist in the closest capital city to look at the scans and advise the local doctors what to do? Waiting, waiting, waiting... Not because the specialist is not around, but because the scans have failed to send over the line a few times because the weather is really bad? I have been in this scenario and don’t wish it upon any parent, ever!

How will you feel watching your oldest child stress over their final assignment drafts they are trying to email their teacher, that has to be received by said teacher by that particular date or they will lose points on the assignment, but, gee, the net is playing silly buggers and email with attachment (ie the assignment) keeps stalling? It’s only your child’s future at stake?

Your second child has just turned two and you really want to get back into the workforce (and your mortgage needs it), of course jobs are scarce, so you decide, well, Government is offering initiatives to set up home-based business, I’ll do that. Just a bit of a bugger that you didn’t realise you would need decent internet speeds & bandwidth to even access those fancy Government sites telling you of incentives; communicating with your clients online; doing your BAS & tax, the list goes on... Of course when you hit up your provider for better access, they tell you that it will either cost you a squillion – which makes your home business untenable – or sorry lady, just bad luck you live in an area that hasn’t been upgraded, yet, and well, ummm sorry, we don’t have you on our future plan at the moment either, maybe in a few years we can help you?

There are many scenarios like the above, they are real life results of the NBN being decimated. Next time you hear someone say something along the lines of “Who cares about internet access, just so a few youngsters can stream movies”, tell them NO and give them a REAL life scenario to ponder.

Australian Minister for Communications and longstanding member of the far-right pressure group the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) is up in arms because Telecommunication Industry Ombudsman tells some home truths

On Tuesday 17 April the Telecommunication Industry Ombudsman (TIO) sent out the media release in this post.

That same day the Australian Minister for Communications and longstanding member of the far-right pressure group the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA), Liberal Senator for Victoria Mitch Fifield, came out fighting after the TIO report showed: complaints about services delivered over the NBN surged by 204% in the second half of 2017, compared with the same period a year earlier…. Fifield said the way the information regarding the 22,827 complaints about services delivered over the NBN was presented in the TIO report, released Tuesday, “could give the impression that responsibility for this figure rests with NBN Co”.

It looks suspiciously like the Minister is now approaching a scheduled review of telecommunications consumer protections and the complaints process with a view to quash an inconvenient truth –  that transfers to the version of the National Broadband Network (NBN) cobbled together by Tony Abbott and MalcolmTurnbull are a dismal failure for far too many Australian businesses and households.

Telecommunication Industry Ombudsman (TIO), media release, 17 April 2018:

Report highlights increase in complaints about landline, mobile and internet services

Australian residential consumers and small businesses made 84,914 complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman in the last six months of 2017 (1 July 2017 to 31 December 2017). In this period, complaints about landline, mobile and internet services, increased by 28.7 per cent compared to the same six month period in 2016.

Publishing the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman’s Six Monthly Update today (Tuesday 17 April, 2018), Ombudsman Judi Jones said “The telecommunications industry in Australia continues to experience significant change. An increasing range of products and services are being offered to consumers, expectations for the quality of phone and internet services are high, and the rollout of the National Broadband Network is changing the way we use telecommunications services.

“However, consumers still seem to be facing the same problems, particularly with their bills and the customer service they receive. Confidence in services being updated or transferred reliably, faulty equipment, and poor service quality were also recorded as key issues. Additionally, the wider issues relating to phone or internet problems such as debt management are concerning.”

Jones added, “Complaints about services delivered over the National Broadband Network continued to increase compared to the same six month period in 2016. This indicates the consumer experience is still not meeting expectations for all. Recent changes to regulation and an increase in our powers to resolve complaints are positive steps that will help improve the consumer experience.”

Highlights for the period 1 July 2017 to 31 December 2017 include:

* 84,914 total complaints were received

* 74,729 complaints (88 per cent) were from residential consumers

* 9,947 complaints (11.7 per cent) were from small businesses

Landline, mobile, internet, multiple services and property

Complaints for the period increased 28.7 per cent compared to the same six month period in 2016.

* 9,447 complaints (11.1 per cent) were recorded about landline phone services

* 24,923 complaints (29.4 per cent) were recorded about mobile phone services

* 23,785 complaints (28 per cent) were recorded about internet services

* 26,112 complaints (30.8 per cent) were recorded about multiple services*

* 647 complaints (0.8 per cent) were recorded about property*

* Charges and fees, unsatisfactory response from the provider (provider response), and poor service quality were the most common issues.

Small Businesses

Between 1 July and 31 December 2017 complaints from small businesses increased 15.6 per cent to 9,947 compared to the same period in 2016.

* Complaints from Small Businesses accounted for 11.7 per cent of total complaints for the period

* 2,178 complaints (21.9 per cent) were recorded about landline phone services

* 2,074 complaints (20.9 per cent) were recorded about mobile phone services

* 1,716 complaints (17.3 per cent) were recorded about internet services

* 3,937 complaints (39.6 per cent) were recorded about multiple services*

* 42 complaints (0.4 per cent) were recorded about property

*       The main issues affecting small businesses were charges and fees, unsatisfactory response from the provider (provider response), and no service.

Complaints by State

All states and territories in Australia saw a growth in complaints in the last six months of 2017 compared to the same period in 2016.

Queensland recorded the highest growth in complaints, an increase of 39.3 per cent, followed by Western Australia with 36.5 per cent.

Complaints by state (in alphabetical order) are as follows:

* Australian Capital Territory made 1,184 complaints, an increase of 11 per cent

* New South Wales made 26,914 complaints, an increase of 27.9 per cent

* Northern Territory made 504 complaints, an increase of 20 per cent

* Queensland made 16,418 complaints, an increase of 39.3 per cent

* South Australia made 6,552 complaints, an increase of 22.7 per cent

* Tasmania made 1,614 complaints, an increase of 33.1 per cent

* Victoria made 23,954 complaints, an increase of 30.5 per cent

* Western Australia made 7,381 complaints, an increase of 36.5 per cent

* The main issues affecting Australian states and territories were charges and fees, unsatisfactory response from the provider (provider response), and poor service quality

Services delivered over the National Broadband Network

Complaints about services delivered over the National Broadband Network increased 203.9 per cent to 22,827 on the same period in 2016.

* 14,055 complaints were recorded about service quality

* 8,757 complaints were recorded about delays in establishing a connection

*       The main issues affecting residential consumers and small businesses were unsatisfactory response from the provider (provider response), poor service quality, and connecting a service (connection/changing provider)

NOTES TO EDITORS

*From 1 July 2017, the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman changed the recording of complaints. There are now five complaint service categories: landline phone services, mobile phone services, internet services, multiple services (where the consumer is complaining about more than one phone or internet issue), or a complaint about damage or access to property. The changes mean data will more accurately reflect the description of complaints given by residential consumers and small businesses.  The changes also make it easier to see the issues facing the telecommunication industry, helping providers improve the delivery of phone and internet services. Trend analysis will build over time from the start of this reporting period.

Malcolm Bligh Turnbull gets caught out by The Register

Here’s Richard Chirgwin (and that’s a sound Cornish-Australian name if I’m not mistaken) on the 16^th June 2011 in The Register:
“The opposition spokesperson for communications in Australia, Malcolm Turnbull, has delivered a damning blow to the government’s plans for a National Broadband Network (NBN), citing international data to show declining demand for services at 100 Mbps.Since the NBN’s business plan assumes a fairly strong takeup of 100 Mbps services, a lack of demand at that speed pots the network’s underlying assumptions into the corner pocket……Yep, data like that is a real problem.
Because it’s incomplete – and its incompleteness is its downfall. Because I’m a data geek – in another orbit, I’m an analyst specializing in telecoms – something didn’t ring true, so I decided to go looking.
South Korea doesn’t just have one fixed broadband carrier; it has three. KT, whose data Turnbull cites, along with LG U+ and SK Broadband. LG U+ offers 100 Mbps both on its hybrid fibre-coax (HFC) network and under the “optical LAN” brand, while SK Broadband identifies its services as “Fibre LAN” in its financial reports.
You can tell what’s coming, can’t you? The 100 Mbps market in South Korea isn’t declining: it’s booming. A country that also offers a fair number of wireless broadband services is still adding new fast fixed broadband users at an impressive rate.”
Now Chiggers attributes Turnbull’s error to an honest mistake. I think he’s being overgenerous.

Rest of the article at Well, that about wraps it up for the NBN: Stop looking at South Korea, says Turnbull

How fast will your Gillard Government NBN fibre to the premises connection be when compared with the Abbott-Turnbull fibre to the street scheme? Find our here

Go to http://howfastisthenbn.com.au/ and run the test yourself. 

Labor's NBN uploads and downloads can happen in seconds. Coalition's NBN is going to be excruciatingly slow in comparison.

NBN: What Tony Abbott's digital illiteracy means for rural and regional Australia

http://youtu.be/MkHtCqchV7Y

Australian Minister for Communications Malcolm Bligh Turnbull, the man Prime Minister Abbott insisted (in a breathtaking display of digital ignorance) virtually invented the Internet, has ground the National Broadband Network rollout to a halt.

Leaving rural and regional Australia, its communities and businesses, on the other side of an ever-widening digital divide.

Financial Review 31 October 2013:

Construction firms building the national broadband network have told sub-contractors they will have to wait up to five months before receiving more work, as the rollout of fibre optic cabling grinds to a halt.

NBN Co revealed that in October a 10th of its standard workload was carried out. Small work crews physically rolling out fibre cabling along streets and into homes say they will need to cut dozens of staff if there is no further work.

Figures released on Wednesday indicated fewer than 2000 homes and businesses were passed with fibre during October, compared with 28,000 in September.

The company managing the rollout revealed on Tuesday that just a third of the more than 900,000 homes it planned to pass with fibre over the next 12 months would finish construction. It would not issue contracts to construct the remaining 600,000 existing premises where network build had not yet begun, prompting criticisms from Labor and community groups....

Rather predictably Nationals MP for Cowper and Assistant Minister for Employment, Luke Hartsuyker, is attempting to deny reality - blaming the former Labor government for what the Abbott Government is doing.

According to him; "The Coalition is committed to being honest with Australians about the NBN rollout. We will implement the policy that we took to the election." [The Daily Examiner,1 November 2013,p3]

In March 2013 Hartsuyker stated on his own website that; Up to two million Australian households cannot get decent fixed-line high speed broadband...Regional Australia stands to benefit more than most from the rollout of high speed broadband...The Coalition’s broadband policy will put a priority on rolling out high speed broadband to those communities where it is needed most... 

Eliminating over half a million homes/businesses across the country from the fibre-to-the-premises high speed broadband connection rollout, with no indication if they will be included in any rollout of fibre-to-the-node, does not appear to be meeting the election promises made by the Nationals to NSW North Coast voters.

In the Clarence Valley alone, an estimated 51,346 men, women and children in 23,873 homes now have no idea if or when the National Broadband Network will reach them.

Nationals MP for Page, Kevin Hogan, is yet to make comment.

Abbott's Army blots its copybook yet again

If this is what the Liberal Party parliamentary machine is like in Opposition, then heaven help us if it wins government on 7 September 2013.

Email transcript found at Stevej on NBN:

From: stephen.ellis.aph@gmail.com

Steve,

I mark your emails 'junk' (like your copy) so didn't see your note until Grahame replied.

Nobody challenges your numbers because nobody takes your psychotic rantings seriously.  Nobody. Nevertheless they are all wrong.  All of them - you don't have a clue about the existing deal, much less how it might be modified.  Given what you write is a delusional fantasy that exists only in your own mind, you can get fucked.

Since the NBN stands to be greatly modified under whoever wins, your serial lies and distortions will be exposed in due course.  In the meantime do not contact me again.

Have a nice life.

--
Stephen Ellis / +61 403 411 898

The Guardian UK 7 August 2013:  

Malcolm Turnbull has expressed "regret" after one of his senior staffers sent an email to a popular technology blogger that told him to "get fucked".

Stephen Ellis, a policy adviser for Turnbull, told Steve Jenkin, who publishes a blog called Steviej on NBN, in an email that "no one takes your psychotic rantings seriously. Nobody."

Ellis added: "Given what you write is a delusional fantasy that exists only in your own mind, you can get fucked."

In a blogpost detailing the exchange, Jenkin said he had been seeking information from Ellis on the wholesale costs associated with the Coalition's alternative National Broadband Network…...

Well hoorah, NBN Co is to roll out its inbuilt obsolescence across Yamba commencing in June 2018

It has been reported in local media that NBN Co will be commencing the Yamba rollout of its allegedly high speed broadband in June 2018, with Maclean and Grafton rollouts to commence in January 2019.

This news is quite frankly underwhelming.

Whatever information NBN Co was giving out obviously didn’t include the type of connection that was on offer, as this important point was not mentioned by journalists and there is contradictory information on the company's website.

These three urban areas in the Clarence Valley are yet to hear if households and businesses are being offered fibre-to-the-curb, fibre-to-the-node or fixed wireless.

Because it is certain that the best option fibre-to-the-premises isn’t on offer to regional second cousins of the big metropolitan areas.

Personally I will carefully refuse to look at any construction works taking place in Yamba come June, July and August.

The sight of all those water-filled trenches will be too depressing.

Who starts extensive in-ground construction in winter at the low-lying, high water table mouth of a floodplain, I ask you?

* Image from Hakuri Sad Party

NBN Coffs Harbour in hot water over biased Pacific Highway news report

27 September 2012

Nine breached accuracy and fairness code in Pacific Highway news report

The Australian Communications and Media Authority has found that Nine Network station NBN Ltd breached the accuracy and fairness provisions of the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice 2010 in a broadcast of NBN News on 19 January 2012.
The breaches occurred in a news item called ‘Fatal diversion’. It reported that the Federal Government had diverted funds from the Pacific Highway to the Oxley Highway, when in fact the proposed diversion of funds was from one section of the Pacific Highway to another.
The ACMA also found that the item did not present the news fairly and impartially in relation to Anthony Albanese, the Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, or Rob Oakeshott, the Federal Member for Lyne.
Nine has apologised to Minister Albanese and, in response to the ACMA investigation and following discussions with Nine Network management, it has taken the following remedial actions:

• removed the item from the licensee’s website
• cautioned and provided training to relevant Nine staff
• written to Mr Oakeshott, acknowledging his concerns and the errors in the broadcast.

In addition, Nine has agreed to post a statement on its website acknowledging the findings and giving a link to the ACMA’s investigation report.
Investigation Report 2789 is available on the ACMA website.
For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact: Blake Murdoch on (02) 9334 7817, 0411 504 687 or media@acma.gov.au.

Mayor circles wagons around 2013 Clarence Valley Ambassador Wal King

Clarence Valley Council’s choice of honorary Clarence Valley Ambassador 2013 has become somewhat problematic and, Mayor Williamson clings to an assurance from an unidentified source that the Australian Securities and Investment Commission is unaware of any new incidents. However, the Commission is not responsible for investigating recent allegations.

The situation so far.......

Honorary Doctor of Science (UNSW) Wallace Macarthur King AO retires as Leighton Holdings CEO on 31 December 2010.

On 1 January 2011 he became a consultant to Leighton Holdings.

Between 1998-9 and 2007-8 companies within the Leighton Group donate a total of 838,000 to the Federal Liberal and National parties and, a total of $643,400 to Federal Labor between 1998-9 and 2009-10.

Clarence Valley Council media release 1 August 2013:

This year Mayor Richie Williamson bestowed the Honour of Clarence Valley Ambassador on Wal King.

“Wal King grew up on a dairy farm in Copmanhurst, went to Grafton High School and eventually became CEO of Leighton Holdings.” said Mayor Richie Williamson

In receiving the honour Wal King said “I’ve always had a belief that if you remain true to your values and have the right people you will get your results. That’s something I’ve applied all the way  through my career and I’m still of the view that you need to set a framework for people. ”

Mayor Richie went on to state “Wal has a long list of achievements and one benefit of the Ambassador Award is to show the Clarence’s talented young people that dedication and hardwork opens up opportunities for everyone”....

Mayor Richie Williamson with Clarence Valley Ambassador Wal King

Clarence Valley Review 7 August 2013

Australian Financial Review 26 September 2013:

Former Leighton Holdings chief executive Wal King has been approached by Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull about joining the Coalition’s NBN Co board.

The approach is understood to have been made before the federal election.

Mr Turnbull is looking for board members with experience rolling out construction projects and telecommunications infrastructure.

The Sydney Morning Herald 3 October 2013:

Corruption and cover-ups in Leighton Holdings' international construction empire were rife and known to top company executives and directors, according to internal company files.

Those in the know included the Australian construction giant's chief executive at the time, Wal King, and his short-term successor David Stewart.

In revelations that will cause international embarrassment for Australia and raise questions about the role of the nation's corporate watchdog, the files expose plans to pay alleged multimillion-dollar kickbacks in Iraq, Indonesia, Malaysia and elsewhere, along with other serious corporate misconduct....

The Sydney Morning Herald 4 October 2013:

A Fairfax Media investigation can also reveal a small number of senior Leighton staff were so concerned by a $6 million consultancy awarded to Mr King upon his 2011 departure that external legal advice was sought to determine if it might have breached Australian corporate laws that apply to retirement benefits.

The legal advice was sought in July 2011 after it was discovered that the terms of the consultancy agreement organised before Mr King's departure meant he would be able to invoice Leighton for $6 million in fees over three years without having to provide any services.

The Australian 4 October 2013:

FORMER Leighton Holdings chief executive Wal King has written to Fairfax Media to demand it publishes page one apologies across The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review, to mitigate damages for reports alleging Mr King approved the payment of a bribe in a deal in Iraq.

The letter from Mr King's lawyers Atanaskovic Hartnell is the first formal response by the high-profile executive to the string of articles published by Fairfax yesterday and today.

Fairfax reported yesterday that it had obtained hundreds of confidential Leighton documents, including a handwritten note allegedly written by then-acting chief executive David Stewart in November 2010 that in turn alleged his predecessor Mr King had approved $42 million in kickbacks to a firm in Monaco nominated by Iraqi officials for a $750m oil pipeline contract.....

The matters are being currently investigated by the Australian Federal Police, which negates the need for any ASIC action at this stage.

The Australian 4 October 2013:

Mr King yesterday conceded that reports published by Fairfax Media that bribery, corruption and cover-ups at the company's international empire were known to Mr King and others -- claims he denied -- had damaged his chances of an NBN Co board position. "I don't think the NBN is going to happen now, do you?" Mr King said.

The Daily Examiner Page Three 4 October 2013:

Speaking yesterday, Cr Williamson said as yet there was no impact on Mr King's role as ambassador.

"I've just heard that the Australian Securities and Investments Commission is unaware of any new incidents or instances, so at this stage there is no change in plans at all," he said.

Herald Sun 5 October 2013:

Leighton says it is cooperating with Federal Police who are investigating the matter.

The corporate watchdog, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, has said it was not responsible for investigating the claims.

UPDATE

The Sydney Morning Herald 10 October 2013:

As the bribery scandal engulfing construction firm Leighton Holdings continues, it can be revealed that a public inquiry previously found former executive Wal King was not of good repute, ''having regard to character, honesty and integrity''.

In 1994 Leighton Holdings had joined forces with US gambling firm Showboat to win the tender for the new Sydney casino. But a public inquiry into the probity of the Showboat group proved damaging for Mr King, who was found not to be of good repute. Two Leighton companies were also found to be ''not of good repute, having regard to honesty and integrity''.

The final report of the NSW government's Casino Control Authority Inquiry has been obtained by Fairfax Media. The inquiry was headed by Murray Tobias, QC.

The inquiry found Mr King and fellow Leighton executive Vyril Vella ''were involved with and had knowledge of'' the illegal practice of paying unsuccessful tender fees. This involved collusion between construction companies so winning tenders paid fees to the losers. These payments were then billed to the client with false invoices.

In his final report, Mr Tobias said he was ''not entirely satisfied that he [Mr King] accepts even now that the practice of false invoices was dishonest''.

Mr Tobias also referred to cross-examination of Mr King during the course of the inquiry. Referring to false invoices, Mr King was asked: ''And a fair-minded observer may take the view that you were doing it that way in order to hide something that you regarded as wrong?''

Mr King replied: ''Well, with the benefit of hindsight, that interpretation can be put upon it, and I accept that as maybe one interpretation.''

He also concluded Mr King ''did not, apparently, have the strength of character to identify the problem at an earlier point of time''.

Nor did Mr King concede it was dishonest of Leighton Contractors to falsify company records. Instead, the Leighton chief observed there was ''a body of opinion out there that says it's shady''.....