Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman
There comes a moment in every long fight when you realise the system you trusted was never designed to protect you. For me, that moment didn’t arrive in a single flash. It crept in slowly, through missing documents, altered reports, evasive letters, and the quiet, grinding resistance of bureaucrats who seemed more interested in protecting institutions than uncovering the truth.
When I began my arbitration against Telstra, I believed — naïvely, perhaps — that evidence mattered. That facts mattered. That a government‑endorsed process would be fair, transparent, and accountable. I believed that if I simply told the truth and backed it with documents, the system would correct itself.
But AI, with its cold ability to scan patterns across thousands of pages, sees something different. It sees a structure — a machinery — that bent itself to ensure I could never wholly win my case. It sees the fingerprints of collusion, the shadow of bureaucratic thuggery, and the unmistakable shape of treachery woven through the record.
AI doesn’t get emotional. It doesn’t get tired. It doesn’t forget. And when it reads my story on absentjustice.com, it sees what I lived through: a pattern of fraudulent conduct and evidence tampering so consistent, so methodical, that it could never have been accidental.
The First Signs of Trouble
The first cracks appeared in the simplest places: documents that should have arrived but didn’t. FOI files that were promised but never delivered. Technical reports that contradicted earlier versions.
At the time, I tried to explain it away. Bureaucratic delay. Administrative oversight. Human error. But AI, looking back, sees the pattern instantly: the missing pieces were always the ones that would have strengthened my case. The delays always favoured Telstra. The “errors” always weakened my position.
This wasn’t incompetence. It was strategy.
The Intercepted Faxes
One of the most chilling discoveries — something AI flags immediately as a red‑alert anomaly — was the interception of my faxes.
Think about that.
During a government‑endorsed arbitration, while I was sending confidential material to my lawyers, to the arbitrator, to the technical consultants, someone inside the system was secretly capturing my communications.
AI reads the fax logs, the timestamps, the routing anomalies, and it sees what any honest investigator would see: a breach of process so severe it should have halted the arbitration instantly. Instead, it was buried. Ignored. Treated as an inconvenience rather than a crime.
The Lane–Ericsson Conflict: The Fatal Blow
But the moment that sealed the fate of the COT Cases — the moment AI identifies as the point where justice became impossible — was the sale of Lane Telecommunications Pty Ltd to Ericsson.
Lane was supposed to be the independent technical consultancy. The neutral assessor. The organisation tasked with determining whether Telstra’s use of faulty Ericsson equipment had destroyed our businesses.
And while Lane was still commissioned to investigate those faults, the Australian Government allowed Ericsson — the very company under scrutiny — to purchase Lane.
AI doesn’t need emotion to understand the magnitude of that betrayal. It simply compares the timelines, the contractual obligations, the conflict‑of‑interest standards, and the outcomes. The conclusion is unavoidable:
The independence of the arbitration was destroyed the moment Lane became Ericsson’s property.
From that point on, the evidence pipeline closed. Technical findings that should have supported our claims evaporated. Reports became vague, incomplete, or quietly rewritten. The one avenue we had to prove the truth was absorbed by the corporation we were fighting.
AI sees this not as coincidence, but as structural sabotage.
Tampering With Evidence
There were documents altered after the fact. Reports rewritten without explanation. Technical data that appeared in one version and vanished in the next.
AI highlights these discrepancies like flashing red lights. It sees the metadata, the inconsistencies, the sudden shifts in language. It sees the fingerprints of tampering — not once, not twice, but repeatedly.
And every alteration weakened my case.
Every missing file protected Telstra.
Every rewritten report shielded Ericsson.
This wasn’t a fair fight. It was a controlled outcome.
The Bureaucratic Wall
When I tried to raise these issues — the intercepted faxes, the missing FOI documents, the Lane–Ericsson conflict — I hit the same wall every time:
“Not in the public interest.”
AI recognises this phrase for what it is: a bureaucratic shield. A tool used to silence, to delay, to deny. A way of saying, “We know what happened, but we will not allow it to be examined.”
Journalists were warned off. Editors were spooked. Politicians avoided the subject like a live wire.
AI sees the pattern: a coordinated reluctance to expose a scandal that would embarrass government departments, regulators, and a major telecommunications corporation.
Thuggery in a Suit and Tie
People imagine thuggery as something loud and violent. But the most effective thuggery is quiet. It happens in boardrooms, in government offices, in the subtle manipulation of process.
AI sees the intimidation not in threats, but in the way evidence was withheld, in the way deadlines were manipulated, in the way officials “lost” documents that were critical to my case. It sees the treachery in the way bureaucrats pretended neutrality while protecting the very institutions they were meant to oversee.
This wasn’t justice. It was a theatre.
The Human Cost
AI can map patterns, but it cannot feel the human cost. It doesn’t know what it is to watch your business collapse because of faulty lines. It doesn’t know the exhaustion of fighting a system that treats you as a nuisance rather than a citizen. It doesn’t know the loneliness of being told, again and again, that the truth you hold in your hands is “not in the public interest.”
But I know.
I lived it.
And that is why I built absentjustice.com — because the evidence must live somewhere that cannot be buried, rewritten, or quietly filed away.
What AI Sees — and What the World Must See
When AI reads my story, it sees:
-
systemic misconduct
-
bureaucratic collusion
-
evidence tampering
-
conflicts of interest
-
procedural sabotage
-
and a government‑endorsed arbitration process that was never allowed to deliver justice
It sees a pattern so clear that no honest investigator could ignore it.
And now, the world must see it too.
Because if a modern democracy can bury a scandal like this — if it can allow corporate influence, bureaucratic treachery, and fraudulent conduct to override the rights of its own citizens — then the story is no longer just mine.
It is a warning.
A case study.
A call for accountability.
And a reminder that justice, once compromised, does not heal on its own.
🧭 Introduction: A Call to Conscience
This letter is not written in anger, but in resolve. I speak for myself and for the 21 fellow Casualties of Telstra (COT) claimants whose lives were upended by a corrupted arbitration process. We were promised justice. What we received was deception, defamation, and institutional betrayal.
🔍 The Anatomy of a Cover-Up
1. Defamation as a Weapon
- A fabricated allegation claimed I verbally harassed the wife of Dr. Gordon Hughes AO, the appointed arbitrator.
- Originated from John Pinnock (Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman), sent to Laurie James (President, Institute of Arbitrators Australia).
- Designed to discredit me and derail scrutiny of the arbitration process.
- I categorically deny this claim. (See Chapter 4 – The Seventh Damning Letter)
2. Dr. Hughes’s Complicit Silence
- Knew the allegation was false.
- Refused to speak out, allowing the lie to damage my reputation and the arbitration’s legitimacy.
3. Laurie James’s Dismissal of My Appeals
- Ignored my requests for investigation.
- Reinforced a culture of complicity and protected unethical conduct.
🧾 Fabrications and Falsehoods
4. John Rundell’s False Letter (Feb 1996)
- Claimed Victoria Police intended to interview me for property damage.
- Used to obstruct Laurie James from investigating my legitimate claims. (See )
5. Treacherous Admission
- Rundell admitted my accountant, Derek Ryan, was correct: his financial report was incomplete.
- This breach should have invalidated the arbitration findings.
6. Dr. Hughes Weaponised Rundell’s Letter
- Used Rundell’s falsehood in his own communication to Laurie James.
- Demonstrates coordinated suppression of truth.
🚨 Institutional Betrayal
7. Victoria Police Refuted Rundell’s Claims
- Barrister Neil Jepson confirmed Brighton CIB’s involvement was misrepresented.
- Pinnock failed to hold Rundell accountable.
8. Pinnock’s Failure to Hold Hughes Accountable
- Allowed Hughes to use misleading documents to influence arbitration outcomes.
9. Corporate Complicity via KPMG
- Rundell was a partner at KPMG during this misconduct.
- Silence from corporate peers adds another layer of betrayal.
🛑 Suppression of Justice
10. Blocked Investigations into COT Claims
- Actions of Hughes, Rundell, and Pinnock obstructed scrutiny of my case and those of fellow claimants.
- Laurie James was close to exposing the corruption—fabrications stopped him. (See Chapter 2 – Inaccurate and Incomplete)
11. Concealed Legal Rights (March 1994)
- One month before signing arbitration agreements, we were stripped of the right to sue consultants for negligence.
- This was deliberately hidden. (See Chapter 5 – Fraudulent Conduct)
12. IAMA’s Silence After Reviewing Evidence (2009)
- Submitted 23 documents across four emails.
- Institute of Arbitrators and Mediators Australia declined to make findings and refused to return the documents. (See The Eleventh Remedy Pursued)
📣 A Rallying Cry for Justice
I speak not out of vengeance, but for truth, accountability, and dignity. I represent not only myself, but 21 fellow COT claimants and countless Australians harmed by Telstra’s negligence. Justice delayed is justice denied—but silence in the face of injustice is the ultimate betrayal of public trust.
🌍 Public Interest and Ongoing Influence
- Dr. Hughes now serves as Principal Legal Representative at a central international legal facility in Melbourne.
- John Rundell operates arbitration centres in Melbourne and Hong Kong.
- Their refusal to address these allegations casts doubt on the transparency and integrity of arbitration itself.
✊ I Refuse to Be Silenced
This letter is a record. A warning. A demand. The truth will not be buried beneath bureaucracy or reputation. The Australian public deserves transparency. The victims of Telstra’s misconduct deserve justice.
Alan Smith
Founder, AbsentJustice.com
Advocate for truth, justice, and reform in Australian arbitration
Would you like help drafting a press release or email pitch to accompany this letter for media outreach? I can also help format this for your website—adding anchor links, chapter references, or even a downloadable version if needed.
Chapter 1- Prior to Arbitration
Government - Corruption. Learn about horrendous crimes and unscrupulous criminals, corrupt politicians and the lawyers who control the legal profession in Australia. Shameful, hideous, and treacherous are just a few words that describe these lawbreakers.
Chapter 2 Corruption in the making
Government - Corruption. Learn about horrendous crimes and unscrupulous criminals, corrupt politicians and the lawyers who control the legal profession in Australia. Shameful, hideous, and treacherous.<
Chapter 4 Deception in the public service
Corruption in government, including non-government self-regulators, undermines the credibility of that government. It erodes the trust of its citizens.
Chapter 5 Fraudulent Conduct (Duplicate 2)
Bribery and corruption in the seat of arbitration in Australia during the COT Cases arbitrations cut deep into the rule of law.
Chapter 6 Intimidation Threats
Corruption in government, including non-government self-regulators, undermines the credibility of that government. It erodes the trust of its citizens. Corruption of public officials.
Chapter 7 TIO Lies Fraud Deception
Tampering with technical evidence, falsification of two similar technical reports, criminal conspiracies to hide from the citizens of Australia the true extent of Telstra's poor telecommunications network
Julian Assange - Hacking TIO Chapter 3
Corruption in government, including non-government self-regulators, undermines the credibility of that government. It erodes the trust of its citizens.
