The erection of the infrastructure for the sale of the Federal
Government’s remaining half of Telstra is expected to continue this
week with the appointment of three or four investment banks as
global coordinators of a sale, but there is a growing sense of
unreality about the process, says Malcolm Maiden in The Smage. The odds on the sale being done partially at best are shortening
daily as Telstra’s feud with the Government over regulation
continues, and it’s difficult to see conditions emerging that will
justify a full on-market sale of the stake.

The Fin Review reports that a chronic labour shortage in the
bush is threatening to hold back the rural sector’s recovery from years
of drought, with many farmers struggling to find enough workers to be
able to make the most of recent rains. A recovery in the rural economy
is considered critical to Australia’s continued economic growth, with
an improved export performance needed to offset weakening consumer
spending.

Australia’s top corporate crime fighter will
not pursue a policy of prosecuting high-profile defendants to make
examples of them, but says the number of prosecutions will increase
despite last week’s loss against former FAI executives over the HIH
Insurance collapse, reports The Australian. ASIC chairman Jeff Lucy
has also defended new corporate governance regulations against recent
studies claiming they can do more harm than good.

ANZ has broken ranks with its
counterparts, promising to no longer push higher credit card
borrowing limits on financially vulnerable customers such as
pensioners and the unemployed, reports The SMH. The bank will unveil a responsible lending code today that prohibits
offering credit card limit increases to customers with a poor
recent credit record, or those having difficulty meeting
repayments.

And The Australian (from The Sunday Times) reports
that a close ally of 30 years is set to send former newspaper tycoon Conrad Black to jail.