In an unprecedented move, 66 per cent of shareholder votes said “NO” to Telstra Board's senior executive remuneration package. Mr Trujillo's new pay package includes a short-term incentive of $5.2 million, more than double that of his industry peers. Last financial year, Mr Trujillo was rewarded with almost $12 million, $3 million more than on his first year in the job, a total of $21 million so far.

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Figures released on November 9 by the Workplace Authority reveal that 26,833 AWAs of a total of 54,536 submitted to the Authority since May, did not pass the Fairness Test. There is also a backlog of 142,000 still waiting to be checked. Minister Hockey claims that agreements are now being processed as fast as they are being lodged.

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Disclosure and transparency are being whittled away in Australia, according to a report commissioned by media coalition "Right to Know", comprising News Limited, Fairfax, ABC, Free TV Australia, SBS, AAP and Commercial Radio Australia. Just as participants in a market need access to appropriate and reliable information to make proper decisions, so do citizens in a democracy. Public companies have a duty to disclose a wide range of information to the market and there are sanctions if they withhold it or mislead the market.

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The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) confirms that it is beyond reasonable dispute that there has to be world-wide action to lower Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. There is extremely widespread agreement that action must include market indicators to achieve the necessary reductions. Cap and trade schemes are the most likely with by far the longest time in actual use. The problem is less what we have to do than can we find the political will to do it. It is a global crisis of moral will.
John Sweeney

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