Telstra break-up is punitive: BHP boss

The head of one of Australia's biggest companies has expressed his dismay at the
federal government's plan to break up Telstra.
Don Argus, the chairman of mining giant BHP Billiton, said investors were being
asked to make a sacrifice without reward.
"Well, I am a shareholder, and I would have to say to you that if someone takes
assets out of my balance sheet and doesn't reward me for it with a premium, I have
got to think hard about what are we trying to achieve," he told reporters in
Melbourne.
Mr Argus, who also sits on the board of the nation's largest listed investment
company, Australian Foundation Investment Co (AFIC), said many other Telstra
shareholders probably thought the same as he did.
His comments came as draft laws to break up Telstra passed the lower house, with
Labor using its numbers to defeat a coalition move to delay its reform plan.
The Australian Greens and independent senator Nick Xenophon have indicated they will
not support the opposition move to delay a vote on Telstra's future.
Family First senator Steve Fielding is undecided on the issue, but he has expressed
concern about what impact a Telstra break-up would have on the share price.
It appears unlikely the opposition will get the two extra votes it needs to delay
the Senate vote on Telstra.
The coalition had wanted the vote delayed until early 2010, after an implementation
study of the government's planned $43 billion national broadband network.
Labor wants Telstra's wholesale and retail businesses separated - either voluntarily
or by force - to create a more level market for telecom services ahead of the
national broadband rollout.