Telstra’s new chief executive Sol Trujillo plans to bring in senior
executives from outside the company as he re-centralises management at
the telco ahead of its $33 billion full privatisation, reports Michael Sainbury in The Australian.
Senior managers at Telstra had been told Trujillo is planning to bring
in a new head of operations, or chief operating officer, and a fresh
technology chief, according to sources.

In the wash-up of David
Murray’s resignation from the Commonwealth Bank and the appointment of
Sol Trujillo at Telstra, one question has never been satisfactorily
answered, says Elizabeth Knight in the SMH: why did David Murray never categorically rule out his candidacy for the Telstra job?

At
the current rate of take-up of digital television in Australia, the
last analogue TV set will be turned off in August 2057 or another way
of looking at this is that when analogue transmissions cease in 2008,
approximately 22.6 million television sets and VCRs across the nation
will go black. Now I’m no political pundit, says Alan Kohler in the Smage,
but even a finance columnist can predict that when, or rather if, this
happens, whichever party is in power – ie. the Coalition – will become
what is technically known in politics as toast.

Over the past
week the ASX and its chief executive, Tony D’Aloisio, have mounted a
defence of their decision not to prevent Westfield from voting on GPT’s
restructuring. But whether one agrees or disagrees with the decision
not to intervene in the GPT case, the restrictions the ASX has itself
imposed on its ability to use its discretions in a new guidance note,
and the highly technical – even legalistic – way it says it approached
that case are both disconcerting and disappointing, says Stephen Bartholomeusz in The Age.

The Ozreports
that the Myer department store chain is demanding that suppliers help
pay for its marketing budget as the nation’s big retailers attempt to
spread the pain of the consumer-spending downturn. Myer chief executive
Dawn Robertson wrote to suppliers in April and May, advising them of a
10% marketing fee on new season apparel and footwear orders for the new
Myer store in Brisbane.

The Fin Review reports that the
ABC has lost its fight for a quick renewal of a lucrative regional
broadcasting contract after federal cabinet voted to put Asia-Pacific
Television out to commercial tender – clearing the way for a consortium
backed by Murdoch, Stokes and Packer to bid for the contract. Also in
the AFR, soaring oil prices are predicted to cut Australian
consumer spending and dent domestic growth this year and could also
threaten growth in key export markets, such as Japan and China.

On
Wall Street, US stocks were mixed overnight, as a dip in crude oil
prices did little to reassure investors that the recent rise in energy
prices has been checked. The Dow Jones ended down 9 points at 10,599 – MarketWatch has a full
report here. And the ABC
reports, some analysts predict oil could soon reach $US60 dollars a
barrel after July-dated sweet crude reached $US59.70 a barrel overnight
before falling back late in the session to close at $US58.90 a barrel.