Read Alan’s new book
‘Absent Justice’

Until the late 1990s, the Australian government maintained ownership of the entire national telephone network and the communications carrier known as Telecom, which has since been privatised and rebranded as Telstra. For many years, Telecom operated as a monopoly in the communications sector, resulting in a significant decline in the quality and reliability of the network. Amid this decline, three other small business owners and I grappled with severe communication issues threatening our livelihoods. Frustrated by the situation, we united and formed a group called the Casualties of Telstra, or COT for short. Our plight caught the federal government's attention, which offered us a commercial assessment process, seemingly a beacon of hope for resolution.

The narratives above and below echo the recent British Government Post Office scandal. For more details, refer to the following link. Upon delving deeper into the Casualties of Telstra, one realises the striking resemblance to the UK Alan Bates vs. Post Office story. To watch the Australian television Channel 7 trailer for "Mr Bates vs. the Post Office," which went to air in Australia, →  Click here. The latest update on that terrible story is on YouTube at https://youtu.be/MyhjuR5g1Mc.   

This UK Post Office story sheds light on how sub-post office contractors were misled; some were even jailed and, tragically, led to suicides after encountering the might of the British Post Office, a government-owned organisation similar to Telstra. The COTs (Casualties of Telstra) were compelled into arbitration in 1994 with the assurance of receiving essential documents to substantiate their claims. Even thirty years later, in 2025, COT has yet to receive these critical documents.