Australia's parliament on Wednesday narrowly approved the privatisation of telecoms giant Telstra Corp Ltd, allowing the government to offload its A$28 billion ($22 billion) stake in what would be the world's biggest share sale in almost 20 years.
The Liberal/National coalition government is expected to decide by early next year on whether to proceed with the long-planned sale of its 51.8 percent Telstra stake before the end of 2006.
The upper house Senate passed five bills to approve the sale, force Telstra to split its wholesale, network and retail arms, create a A$2 billion fund to protect rural services and spend A$1.1 billion on a nation-wide broadband rollout.
"This is an historic day," Communications Minister Helen Coonan said in a statement.
The government won the vote 37-35 amid cries of "Shame" from the opposition Labour and minor parties, who were angry at the conservative government for using its Senate majority to cut short parliamentary debate and push the laws through.
Two key bills - approving the sale and regulatory changes - will now go to the lower House of Representatives, where the government holds a clear majority, to be rubber-stamped.
Prime Minister John Howard, whose personal approval rankings have dropped five points in the past month amid bickering over the Telstra sale, must now rebuild support and convince investors of the benefits of buying Telstra shares.
Latest polls show 70 percent of Australians oppose Telstra's full privatisation. The government may sell its Telstra stake in one or more tranches, or sell only part of it and park the remaining shares in a planned investment fund to cover future public service pension liabilities.
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