Telstra and human rights? um...

Telstra attacks human rights record | The Australian

TELSTRA has launched an extraordinary attack on Australia's human rights record, citing the Howard government practice of keeping children in detention as a reason why a charter of rights is needed.

In a submission to the national human rights consultation panel, the country's largest telecommunications company wholeheartedly endorses a charter, arguing it would "provide greater clarity about the protection of human rights in Australia".

Telstra argues the principles of responsible government and the common law - which opponents of a charter say adequately ensure people's rights - are a "soft" foundation upon which to base protections.

So too is the emasculated principle of ministerial responsibility, which has failed to ensure ministers take personal responsibility for government "excess", the telco writes.

Nor can the prospect of regular judgment of the electorate adequately protect the citizenry.

"The more responsive but equally unsatisfactory notion of responsibility to parliaments - the slim convention of ministerial responsibility - is also no substitute for clearly articulated, enshrined, human rights protections."

Telstra argues there has been an erosion of rights and freedoms, warning there "is no guarantee that these rights will not be further eroded in years to come".

In a swipe at the Howard government, with which Telstra had a rocky relationship, the company takes issue with John Howard's 2000 claim that Australia's human rights record was "quite magnificent".

"There have been several well-publicised infringements of human rights in Australia, including amongst them, the incarceration of children in immigration facilities," says the submission.

"The available data suggests that Australia's human rights record does not compare overwhelmingly favourably with other countries."

Telstra's lodged the submission last October. Its relationship with the Rudd Government has been under strain following the company's exclusion from the national broadband network tender.