Australian government politicians yesterday called for the chief executive of telecoms giant Telstra to be sacked as a poisonous feud between Canberra and the firm erupted into a public row.
Senior government officials also questioned Telstra chief executive Sol Trujillo's multi-million dollar pay packet after the controversial executive opposed Australian Prime Minister John Howard's bid to appoint a close associate to the board.
"I'm completely dissatisfied with Sol Trujillo and his management team -- I think they need a real good kick in the pants," backbench MP Cameron Thompson, a member of Howard's Liberal party, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC).
Howard's government had been forced to "pick up the pieces" after blunders by Trujillo, Thompson said, adding that the Telstra chief could use the help of a board member who represented Canberra's viewpoint.
Treasurer Peter Costello advised Trujillo to keep quiet over Howard's wish to appoint associate Geoff Cousins to the board of Telstra, which is majority owned by the government.
"I don't really think it is up to Sol Trujillo to decide who should go on the board; I think it is up to the shareholders to decide," Costello told public radio.
Costello insisted he had confidence in Trujillo, but in a measure of the government's frustration, he questioned why the US executive had received a A$2.6 million (US$1.95 million) bonus when Telstra's share price and profits had slumped.
"The board has to make the basis on which the bonuses were paid made clear," he said.
Telstra's share price has tumbled more than 30 percent since Trujillo took over in July last year and annual profits are down more than 25 percent.
The weak share price has forced the government to scrap plans to fully privatize Telstra, instead opting to sell A$8 billion -- or about a third of its remaining stake of 51.8 percent.
Many in the Canberra administration blame Trujillo and his team for the problem and Thompson said they should stop trying to throw their weight around.
"From the moment they've arrived, all they've done is wander around, sort of sticking their head into beehives and making a total ass of themselves," he told the ABC.
Trujillo has further infuriated the government with his opposition to Cousins' appointment, warning the move could spook investors as Canberra prepares to for the partial privatization later this year.
"We're sick and tired of him," another government backbencher, Don Randall, said of Trujillo, a US businessman.
"If he doesn't like it, maybe he wants to look at his position and go back from whence he came," Randall added.
Howard confirmed his government would press on with the appointment of former advertising executive and government consultant Cousins, insisting the row would soon "blow over."
He denied the spat could put further pressure on the share price.
"I don't believe that for a moment ... people make an evaluation according to the long-term prospects of the company," Howard told commercial radio.
The latest row ends an uneasy truce between government officials and Telstra executives ahead of the share sell-off, scheduled for later this year.
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