State premiers and chief ministers have cancelled a special meeting to discuss tax reform until the Turnbull government gives them some idea of what they should be talking about.

A meeting of the Council for the Australian Federation had been planned in Darwin in early March but, late on Monday, the Northern Territory’s chief minister, Adam Giles, wrote to his counterparts saying the meeting had been cancelled because the debate had become so unclear since the prime minister effectively ruled out a goods and services tax increase.

read more; http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/feb/09/tax-reform-meeting-cancelled-until-malcolm-turnbull-provides-clarity-to-states-territories

Of course by "offshoring" processing of tax claims the government is in a win-win position. I know that. The government is quite aware of the "repeat business syndrome". It's not only profitable to their "offshore business partners in woopwoop Mumbai or The Philippines to delay salvation, it also provides the government with profitable delays. Claims are usually about people WANTING A TAX REFUND or DEDUCTION. Delay the refund ad infinatum and you're cooking with gas. The main thing is to make sure the cost differential between having these claims badly processed overseas by call centres paid in rupees and having to fork out Aussie dollars for refunds is at least ten time more in favour of the government. 

Most people dealing with call centres in Mumbai would give up trying after calling five to six time on average: Win-win for Canberra.

Some subjects require no opinion, or comment. Just the facts.

According to the most recent annual report of the Australian Communications and Media Authority, Australians continue to slowly give up on their telephone landlines: "The number of fixed-line telephone connections continues to decline (by 1 per cent) to 9.08 million."

More than 90 per cent of consumers now have access to fourth-generation mobile networks, but the report also notes: "Eighty-nine per cent of adults are satisfied or very satisfied with their fixed-line telephone services; 88 per cent with their mobile phones; and 81 per cent with their internet service."

That means nearly 1 million customers did not tick the satisfaction box. This column is dedicated to them.

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Last Thursday, after my household had received a quarterly bill from Telstra of $137.64 for a landline phone that has not worked for a year, I embarked on a determined effort, unlike previous attempts, to persevere with whatever the helpline throws at me.

It says on the bill, next to the phone number, "We're available 24 hours a day, seven days a week". It sounds seamless, but the term "available" is evidently a loose one.

Here is the chronology:

1.54pm: I call and am asked by a recorded voice to choose from a menu of topics. When I answer, the recorded voice says, "Sorry, I missed that." I speak, and the voice again does not understand. I hang up.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/comment/a-sorry-tale-of-dealing-with-telstras-customer-service-20160216-gmw2ws.html#ixzz40OVZGYcg
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Yep... THE COPPER NETWORK IS CLAPPED OUT. TURNBULLSHIT NBN IS SHIT.