John Linton The overwhelmingly important event of the day was, of course, the marriage of my eldest son to the girl of his dreams and the subsequent celebrations. The ceremony itself was very beautiful and the beautiful weather, one of Sydney's finest Winter offerings, was an added bonus. The bride and bridesmaids all looked quite stunning and the food and wine at the reception was better than I have ever had at a 'catered event'. It was really good to see our overseas relatives and some good friends from other parts of Australia as well as getting to know our new extended family members a little better. A wonderful day.
The other event was the federal election that buried Krudd and the screech owl and the travesty of government they have presided over during the past three years. It also made it a little clearer that some Australians are sick of the current 'snout in the trough' attitude that has become Australian politics and would prefer at least some semblance of honesty and ethics in the running of the country....that isn't going to happen any time soon. What happens from here on is anyone's guess and, personally, I have no interest in whether the three ex Country Party independents sell their souls to support a rejected Labor party or screw some deal out of the Liberal Party - Australia is now faced with government by a political party that will have neither a majority in either the lower or upper house - whichever one persuades the GG they can see out a three year term - which will, in all probability, end over the coming six months. So we switched channels at midnight and eventually went to bed after watching the first half of the Arsenal game.
I suppose the only business related issue (for Exetel) the current election result raises is what will happen to Labor's 'NBN2'? Given the fact that the Greens and all three of the long term independents are so stupid they actually think it's financially viable a 'betting man' would have to put money on it proceeding whatever happens - for at least the short time until a new election is called. Whether the coalition would try and call it quits in the event they get to form an unholy alliance with the Country Party renegades is, at least, somewhat doubtful. If the politically appointed GG will find a way to keep Labor as the government, probably the more likely of the two scenarios, then you would have to assume that the 'NBN2' will proceed until/if the minority government collapses. If the coalition then wins the subsequent election (and it's less than a year from today's election) the 'NBN2' will still be cancelled if it hasn't progressed so far (unlikely) that it will not waste too much money cancelling it at that stage.
So, as far as the Australian communications industry is concerned, no uncertainty has really been resolved and though it's not as certain as it would have been if Labor had been retained in it's own right as the government of Australia it also isn't as clear cut as if they had been, as they so thoroughly deserved to be, kicked out for their massive list of broken promises and chronic ineptitude in every aspect of governing a small country. It all now depends on what Telstra does with their 'Heads Of Agreement". Do they really have any intention of going through with it? It appears to me that they could just as easily 'engineer' a share holder rejection should it suit them to do that and the current election result could be seen as a good enough reason to do exactly that.
So, in my personal opinion, the uncertainly over the future/non-future of the NBN will continue to influence, negatively, the Australian communications industry for another year which is not a particular problem for Exetel but it is going to be for many of the big suppliers. So the blood bath will continue and new idiocies will be perpetrated and life will remain more interesting than is comfortable.
Time to forget about such foolishnesses and enjoy this near perfect day.
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