Telstra backflips on its backflip on same-sex marriage support

Customer backlash at Telstra’s decision to walk away from support of same-sex marriage has prompted a new backdown.

Telstra chief Andy Penn says the company once again supports marriage equality. Picture Norm Oorloff

The volume and value of customer backlash at Telstra’s decision to walk away from publicly supporting same-sex marriage prompted an embarrassing backdown yesterday when the telco’s chief executive announced that the company would rejoin the campaign.

The Australian revealed last week that the largest telecommunications company had quietly withdrawn its support from a ­national advertising campaign for Australian Marriage Equality because its then chairwoman, Catherine Livingstone, had been persuaded to do so by the Archbishop of Sydney. Telstra was overwhelmed by the strength of the response when chief executive Andy Penn last week said it “has no further plans to figure prominently in the wider public debate”.

The Australian understands Telstra was inundated by angry customers over its Telstra chat network — usually used to solve technical issues or handle mundane inquiries — became a data­mine indicating the strength of customer resentment.

A source familiar with Telstra’s management told The Australian the company had expected the anger to “die down in a couple of days”. This did not happen and, worried about alienating an even bigger market than the one held by the Catholic Church, Telstra decided to revert to its first position on the issue.

“Last week, we advised that out of respect for the individual, our view had been that we would not add further to the debate on marriage equality ahead of a plebiscite or parliamentary debate,” Mr Penn said in a statement yesterday.

“It is clear that rather than Telstra stepping back, we should in fact step forward and support our view for marriage equality, and so that is what we will do.

“By renewing our active ­position, we acknowledge that we are at equal risk of inflaming a new debate, but it is the right thing to do.

“It also remains very important that we continue to recognise and respect the right of the individual to hold their own view on this issue.”

The October meeting between Ms Livingstone and Archbishop Anthony Fisher, which took place in his office, followed a letter-writing campaign from the archdiocese’s business manager, Michael Digges. “You may be aware that the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney is a significant user of goods and services from many corpor­ations, both local and inter­national,” Mr Digges wrote.

Telstra has at least a $146 million contract with Catholic education schools and offices around the country.

A spokeswoman for the archdiocese said last week it was “misleading” to claim the church was threatening a boycott.

“The Catholic Church’s stand on same-sex marriage remains very clear and the church will continue to engage in respectful public debate on the issue,” she said.

The spokeswoman said the archbishop met with many business and community leaders.

The Archdiocese of Sydney said last night: “It is pleasing to know that Telstra recognises the right of all individuals to hold their own view on the issue of same-sex marriage, as expressed in yet another news release.

“The original question was whether it is fair and reasonable for a company to support a particular view on behalf of all their stakeholders.”