On 1 June 2021, Mathias Cormann officially assumed office as the Secretary-General of the OECD in Paris, France. Similarly to Australia's former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, he possesses comprehensive knowledge about the legitimacy of the COT Cases claims.
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It is crucial to underscore the significance of four poignant letters dated August 17, 2017, October 6, 2017, October 9, 2017, and October 10, 2017, written by COT Case Ann Garms shortly before her untimely passing. Refer to (rb.gy/dsvidd), which was sent as an attachment to Ann's August 6, 2017 letter. These heartfelt letters were addressed to The Hon. Malcolm Turnbull MP, who was serving as the Prime Minister of Australia, and to Senator the Hon. Mathias Cormann, who held a key position in the government. On June 1, 2021, Mathias Cormann transitioned to a prominent international role as the Secretary-General of the OECD in Paris, France. Both he and former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull possess a deep and comprehensive understanding of the validity of the COT Cases claims.
During the critical period when Ann Garms penned these four letters, I also reached out to The Hon. Malcolm Turnbull, who not only served as Prime Minister but previously held the role of Minister for Communications, engaging with important matters concerning the Australian public. I shared a detailed timeline of events with The Hon. Mathias Cormann, then the Minister for Finance, as well as with a lawyer practising in Hamilton, Victoria. This timeline was beautifully formalised into a statutory declaration, meticulously prepared by Hamilton lawyer Gerard O'Keeffe, which was dated July 26, 2019. This informative timeline has now been thoroughly incorporated into the 'Absent Justice' webpage, encompassing Introduction to Absent Justice Part 1, 2 and 3
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Gaslighting
Psychological manipulation
Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation in which the abuser attempts to sow self-doubt and confusion in the victim's mind, i.e., you do not have a telephone problem. Our records show you are the only customer complaining, but the documents indicate that the situation the person is complaining about is systemic. Typically, gaslighting methods are used to seek power and control over the other person by distorting reality and forcing them to question their judgment and intuition.
On 4 September 2006, Darren Lewis, who purchased my beloved holiday camp at land value only, wrote the following letter to the Hon Senator Helen Coonan, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, with a two-page statutory declaration (See Main Evidence File No 13)
“Our local technicians believe that Mr Smith is correct in raising complaints about incoming callers to his number receiving a Recorded Voice Announcement saying that the number is disconnected.
“They believe that it is a problem that is occurring in increasing numbers as more and more customers are connected to AXE.” (See False Witness Statement File No 3-A)
To further support my claims that Telstra already knew how severe my Ericsson Portland AXE telephone faults were, can best be viewed by reading Folios C04006, C04007 and C04008, headed TELECOM SECRET (see Front Page Part Two 2-B), which states:
“Legal position – Mr Smith’s service problems were network related and spanned a period of 3-4 years. Hence Telecom’s position of legal liability was covered by a number of different acts and regulations. … In my opinion Alan Smith’s case was not a good one to test Section 8 for any previous immunities – given his evidence and claims. I do not believe it would be in Telecom’s interest to have this case go to court.
“Overall, Mr Smith’s telephone service had suffered from a poor grade of network performance over a period of several years; with some difficulty to detect exchange problems in the last 8 months.”
(AUSTEL’s Adverse Findings), dated March 1994, confirms that between Points 2 to 212, the government public servants who investigated my ongoing telephone problems found my claims against Telstra validated. One does not have to be a genius to understand that had the arbitrator been provided AUSTEL’s Adverse Findings, his award on my financial business losses would have been substantially higher than he awarded on my.
Government records (Absentjustice-Introduction File 495 to 551) show that AUSTEL's adverse findings were provided to Telstra (the defendants) one month before Telstra and I signed our arbitration agreement. I did not get a copy of these findings until 23 November 2007, 12 years after the conclusion of my arbitration, which was outside the statute of limitations for me to use those government findings to appeal the arbitrator's award.
Telstra internal email dated 21st April 1993, FOI folio C04094 from Greg Newbold to numerous Telstra executives under the heading “COT cases latest”, states:-
“Don, thank you for your swift and eloquent reply. I disagree with raising the issue of the courts. That carries an implied threat not only to COT cases but to all customers that they’ll end up as lawyer fodder. Certainly that can be a message to give face to face with customers and to hold in reserve if the complaints remain vexacious .” GS File 75 Exhibit 1 to 88
These Telstra executives forgot that Telstra was a publicly owned corporation. Therefore, those executives were responsible for ensuring the integrity of Telstra's working conditions, something Telstra has never even understood. Bribery and corruption, including misleading and deceptive conduct, destroyed the Australian economy while the powerful bureaucrats attempted to fight this fire with talk of change. This bribery and corruption plagued the COT cases’ government-endorsed arbitrations.
In March of 1993, Sister Karen Donnellon, also from Loreto College, tried to make contact via the Portland telephone exchange to arrange an annual camp. Sister Donnellon later wrote:
“During a one week period in March of this year I attempted to contact Mr Alan Smith at Bridgewater Camp. In that time I tried many times to phone through.
Each time I dialled I was met with a line that was blank. Even after several re-dials there was no response. I then began to vary the times of calling but it made no difference.” File 231-B → AS-CAV Exhibit 181 to 233
Some years later, I sent Sister Burke an early draft of my manuscript, Absent Justice My Story, concerning my valiant attempt to run a telephone-dependent business without a dependent phone service. Sister Burke wrote back,
“Only I know from personal experience that your story is true, otherwise I would find it difficult to believe. I was amazed and impressed with the thorough, detailed work you have done in your efforts to find justice” File 231-A → AS-CAV Exhibit 181 to 233
Children's lives could be at risk
Comments made from the Herald Sun newspaper dated 30 August 1993, confirm just how damaging some of these newspaper articles were to my already ailing business with statements like:
“The Royal Children’s Hospital has told a holiday camp operators in Portland that it cannot send chronically ill children there because of Telecom’s poor phone service. The hospital has banned trips after fears that the children’s lives could be at risk in a medical emergency if the telephone service to the Portland camp continued to malfunction”.
The centre’s stand follows letters from schools, community groups, companies and individuals who have complained about the phone service at Portland’s Cape Bridgewater Holiday camp.”
Youths from the Royal Children’s Centre for Adolescent Health, who were suffering from “chronic illnesses”, visited the camp earlier this year.
Group leader Ms Louise Rolls said in a letter to the camp the faulty phones had endangered lives and the hospital would not return to the camp unless the phone service could be guaranteed” Arbitrator File No/90
After the Melbourne Children's Hospital recorded a near-death experience with me having to rush a sick child with cancer to the Portland Hospital 18 kilometres away from my holiday camp, Telstra finally decided to take my telephone faults seriously. None of the 35 children (all with cancer-related illnesses) had mobile phones, or the six or so nurses and carers. Mobile telephones could not operate successfully in Cape Bridgewater until 2004, eleven years after this event. My coin-operated gold phone was also plagued with phone problems, and it took several tries to ring out of the holiday camp. An ambulance arrived once we could ring through to the Hospital.
The above internal Telstra Freedom of Information (FOI) document GS File 75 Exhibit 1 to 88 was provided to the arbitrator presiding over my case during the tumultuous years of 1994 and 1995. This particular document, along with numerous others, shines a light on a troubling revelation: Telstra had a systemic billing problem that siphoned millions of dollars into its coffers, billing customers for calls that were never made. The government regulator, AUSTEL (now known as ACMA), recognised the gravity of the issue and urged the arbitrator, Dr. Gordon Hughes, to address these significant concerns, as they directly impacted thousands of unsuspecting customers. Unfortunately, Dr. Hughes disregarded these urgent requests, allowing Telstra to sidestep the pressing need to confront these faults during the arbitration process. This series of events underscores the considerable power and influence that the Telstra Corporation wields in Australia, extending even into the realm of legal professionals like Dr. Hughes, who was later awarded the prestigious Order of Australia after my arbitration concluded.
I have provided a comprehensive account of the beleaguered Telstra network, shining a light on the courageous efforts of whistleblowing technicians who stood resolutely against the mismanagement of their telecommunications infrastructure. These brave individuals risked their careers to uncover the serious issues that had long plagued the network, which the Telstra management board had systematically hidden from the public and their employees. Their noble endeavour aimed not just to expose these wrongs but to rectify them, addressing the significant service degradation that profoundly affected customers, as documented within the timeframe of my COT story. This narrative intricately details the extent of the deterioration while illuminating the extraordinary courage required to bring these critical concerns to the forefront.
Delve into the unsettling truths surrounding appalling crimes, devious criminals, and the pervasive corruption among politicians and lawyers who wield considerable influence over the legal profession in Australia. While this assertion may seem sensational, the underlying issues within the arbitration system play a crucial role in the injustices perpetuated under the Arbitration Act.
Attached below is a sample of the ailing Telstra network in which Telstra's whistleblowing technicians found the courage to expose in their valient attempt to right the wtongs of their Telstra board of management who allowed this deteration of its telecommunications network to be covered up for the period in which my COT story is showing has been the case.
In the ongoing discourse surrounding political and media misinformation related to the NBN, one critical issue remains inadequately addressed: Did Australia’s copper network meet the original mandatory government regulatory requirements at the time of Telstra’s privatisation? i.e, "Worst of the worst: Photos of Australia’s copper network | Delimiter.
23 June 2015: Had the arbitrator appointed to assess my arbitration claims correctly investigated ALL of my submitted evidence, it would have validated my claim as an ongoing problem, NOT a past problem, as his final award shows. It is clear from the following link dated > Unions raise doubts over Telstra's copper network; workers using ... that when reading in conjunction with Can We Fix The Can, which was released in March 1994, these copper-wire network faults have existed for more than 24 years.
9 November 2017: Sadly, many Australians in rural Australia can only access a second-rate NBN. This didn’t have to be the case: had the Australian government ensured the arbitration process it endorsed to investigate the COT cases’ claims of ongoing telephone problems been conducted transparently, it could have used our evidence to start fixing the problems we uncovered in 1993/94. This news article https://theconversation.com/the-accc-investigation-into-the-nbn-will-be-useful-but-its-too-little-too-late-87095, again, shows that the COT Cases claims of copperwire ailing network were more than valid.
28 April 2018: This ABC news article dated 28 April 2018 regarding the NBN see >NBN boss blames Government's reliance on copper for slow ... needs to be read in conjunction with my own story going back 20 1988 through to 2025, because had the arbitration lies told under oath by so many Telstra employees had not occurred then the government would have been in a better position to evaluate just how bad the copper-wire Customer Access Network (CAN) was just 7-years ago.
Regrettably, as highlighted on absentjustice.com, many Australians residing in rural areas find themselves reliant on an inferior National Broadband Network (NBN). This disheartening reality could have been avoided if the Australian Government had ensured that the arbitration process it endorsed to examine the persistent communication problems raised by the COT cases was conducted with integrity and thoroughness.
In fact, the following three YouTube videos from A Current Affair brilliantly capture the essence of the similar phone complaints brought forward by our COT group in 1994. It is astonishing that, twenty-seven years after the COT Cases unveiled these critical issues during a government-sanctioned arbitration process to address them, Australia continues to grapple with a telecommunications NBN network that falls far short of modern standards.
