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Criminal Intent

  1. Not Fit For Purpose  
  2. Confronting Despair
  3. Flash Backs – China-Vietnam
  4. A Twenty-Year Marriage Lost
  5. Salvaging What I Could  
  6. Lies Deceit And Treachery
  7. An Unlocked Briefcase  
  8. The Under Belly Of Telstra
  9. A Government-backed Arbitration
  10. A Non-Graded Arbitrator
  11. The AFP Failed Their Objective   
  12. The Promised Documents Never Arrived

 

Chapter 1: Corrupt practices persisted throughout the COT arbitrations, flourishing in secrecy and obscurity. These insidious actions have managed to evade necessary scrutiny. Notably, the phone issues persisted for sixteen years following the conclusion of my arbitration, established to rectify these ongoing faults.

Chapter 2: Eighteen months into our holiday camp venture, I called our business using the coin-operated customer phone service and received a recorded message stating, "The number you are calling is not connected." At that moment, I understood that our twenty-year marriage was ending.

Chapter 3: In 1967, Australia participated in the Vietnam War. I was on a ship transporting wheat to China, where I learned China was redeploying some of it to North Vietnam. Chapter 7, "Vietnam—Vietcong," discusses the link between China and my phone issues.

Chapter As bookings declined, my marriage came to an end. My ex-wife, seeking her fair share of our venture, left me with no choice but to take responsibility for leaving the Navy without adequately assessing the reliability of the phone service in my pursuit of starting a business.

Chapter 5: Mobile coverage was nonexistent, and business transactions were not conducted online. Cape Bridgewater had only eight lines to service 66 families—132 adults. If four lines were used simultaneously, the remaining 128 adults would have only four lines to serve their needs.

Chapter 6: I was unaware of Telstra's unethical and corrupt business practices. It has now become clear that various unethical organisational activities were conducted secretly. Middle management was embezzling millions of dollars from Telstra.

Chapter 7: On June 3, 1993, Telstra representatives visited my business and, in an oversight, left behind an unlocked briefcase. Upon opening it, I discovered evidence of corrupt practices concealed from the government, playing a significant role in the decline of Telstra's telecommunications network.

Chapter 8: AUSTEL investigated the contents of the Telstra briefcases. Initially, there was disbelief regarding the findings, but this eventually led to a broader discussion that changed the telecommunications landscape. I received no acknowledgement from AUSTEL for not making my findings public.

Chapter 9: An arbitration process was established to hide the underlying issues rather than to resolve them. The arbitrator, the administrator, and the arbitration consultants conducted the process using a modified confidentiality agreement. In the end, the process resembled a kangaroo court.

Chapter 10: Who granted the financial and technical advisors linked to the arbitrator immunity from all liability regarding their roles in the arbitration process? This decision effectively shields the arbitration advisors from any potential lawsuits by the COT claimants concerning alleged misconduct or negligence.

Chapter 11: In September 1994, two officers from the AFP met with me to address Telstra's unauthorized interception of my telecommunications services. They revealed that government documents confirmed I had been subjected to these violations. Despite this clear evidence, the arbitrator failed to acknowledge it in their findings.

Chapter 12: In a February 1994 transcript of a pre-arbitration meeting, the arbitrator involved in my arbitration stated that he "would not determine incomplete information.". Absent Justice" shows the arbitrator did make a finding on incomplete findings.

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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.

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“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”

Sister Burke

“…your persistence to bring about improvements to Telecom’s country services. I regret that it was at such a high personal cost.”

The Hon David Hawker MP

“A number of people seem to be experiencing some or all of the problems which you have outlined to me. …

“I trust that your meeting tomorrow with Senators Alston and Boswell is a profitable one.”

Hon David Hawker MP

“I am writing in reference to your article in last Friday’s Herald-Sun (2nd April 1993) about phone difficulties experienced by businesses.

I wish to confirm that I have had problems trying to contact Cape Bridgewater Holiday Camp over the past 2 years.

I also experienced problems while trying to organise our family camp for September this year. On numerous occasions I have rung from both this business number 053 424 675 and also my home number and received no response – a dead line.

I rang around the end of February (1993) and twice was subjected to a piercing noise similar to a fax. I reported this incident to Telstra who got the same noise when testing.”

Cathy Lindsey

“…the very large number of persons that had been forced into an arbitration process and have been obliged to settle as a result of the sheer weight that Telstra has brought to bear on them as a consequence where they have faced financial ruin if they did not settle…”

Senator Carr

“I am writing in reference to your article in last Friday’s Herald-Sun (2nd April 1993) about phone difficulties experienced by businesses.

I wish to confirm that I have had problems trying to contact Cape Bridgewater Holiday Camp over the past 2 years.

I also experienced problems while trying to organise our family camp for September this year. On numerous occasions I have rung from both this business number 053 424 675 and also my home number and received no response – a dead line.

I rang around the end of February (1993) and twice was subjected to a piercing noise similar to a fax. I reported this incident to Telstra who got the same noise when testing.”

Cathy Lindsey

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