Attempt to send phone message

By Alison Noonan
A CASEY councillor’s attempt to convince council against voting to award its telephone contract to Telstra could have resulted in a legal battle, according to council officers.
Mayfield Ward councillor Kevin Bradford attempted to persuade the council to vote against awarding the tender to Telstra at last week’s council meeting, but out of fear of costly litigation the council voted to award the telecommunications giant the $156, 761 contract.
He said his bid to find an alternative telecommunications supplier for council’s fixed and mobile phones was done in protest at Telstra’s refusal to address the issue of Cranbourne residents, who are currently charged STD rates for local calls.
He said the move would have sent a clear message to Telstra, which is council’s current supplier, that council was not happy.
“Telstra hasn’t done anything to assist in solving the problem that Cranbourne residents face regarding STD call charges,” Cr Bradford said.
“It is unfair that they are still not included in the local call zone and this hasn’t been attended to.”
But Cr Bradford said that because the details of the tender report had been published in a recent council agenda, council could face possible legal action if it changed its decision on “purely political” grounds.
“The selection process was published in a public document so if we altered it council could have been the subject of litigation for breach of tender,” he said.
“However council will be considering local call area charges when awarding similar tenders in the future.”
Four Oaks Ward councillor Roland Abraham said that although council had every right to protest the Cranbourne call rates, it was too risky to fight Telstra by revoking its contract.
“It could cost council dearly in litigation and we don’t want the community to pay for legal action because of an adhoc decision,” he said.