I wish to voice my absolute opposition to any further sell-off of Telstra by the current and any future Federal Government. As a person that grew up in Regional Australia, namely Griffith in the Riverina of NSW, and now as a parent of two small children in the Bega Valley I understand how important our communications system is to rural Australians. It is used for education, emergencies, security, socialising and the good old bush telegraph! Unfortunately, I have been party to discussions with Senior Telstra Managers who admit that they will not be able to supply full ADSL services to smaller towns unless they have at least 40 customers that wish to use the service. They can also see the paradox that occurs as there will never be those customers if the service is not available. Mobile telephony is simply unacceptable in the area as the holes in the service areas remain many and varied in both size and number! Two weeks is deeemd to be acceptable for a simple "In-Situ" Service connection. Indeed, my family had to wait over 18 months for the phone to be connected in our new home. This in a small town near Bega named Kalaru. Why? The reason given is that there are not enough cables in the area. Sell off Telstra and you will see even less spent on this crucial infrastructure as it is not where the profits for a fully privatised company would be. Please don't kid yourself ottherwise.