Macquarie Telecom partners with Message Stick – Australia’s first Indigenous
telecommunications provider
Macquarie Telecom is setting a new benchmark for industry partnerships with its
alliance with Message Stick Telecommunications – Australia’s first Indigenous
telecommunications provider.
The relationship extends beyond a traditional commercial partnership with Macquarie
Telecom acting as both mentor and partner.
As Message Stick founder and CEO Michael McLeod explains:
“Macquarie Telecom will forever be the first company that gave my business
initiative a real chance. To me this is due to a healthy, but not overtly populist, view
of social responsibility within Macquarie Telecom. Macquarie Telecom’s people supported
Message Stick’s vision and we can now fulfil our destiny over the decades to come.”
Macquarie Telecom believes in Message Stick’s vision: to promote the economic
independence of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. It has taken a pivotal role in
ensuring Message Stick reaches this goal and nurtures future generations of Indigenous
Australian business leaders in the process.
About the partnership:
Macquarie Telecom was introduced to Message Stick Telecommunications in early 2005
through the NSW Department of Aboriginal Affairs.
Message Stick is Australia's first Indigenous telecommunications service provider: it
is majority owned and managed by Indigenous Australians; the CEO is Indigenous; and at all
times the majority of management and staff will be Indigenous Australians.
Its business objectives are:
- To remain financially independent
- To promote understanding and awareness of the Indigenous community within
Australia’s business community
- To contribute to the process of practical reconciliation
- To support and develop successful Indigenous business executives as role models
for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
The challenge Message Stick faced in early 2005 is that it needed to establish a
commercial relationship with a local telco provider to:
- Gain full access to telecommunications products and services to resell to
customers
- Leverage sales and back-office expertise to assist in the growth and development
of the business
In September 2005, Macquarie Telecom and Message Stick entered into a three-year
strategic alliance.
The Journey So Far
Less than 12 months down the track, the Alliance has proved extremely successful. More
than a dozen leading Australian business and government organisations have already signed
as customers.
Macquarie Telecom has provided the resources, assistance and expertise needed to help
Message Stick gain approval as an authorised contractor of telco services to the NSW
Government.
Macquarie Telecom is also supporting Message Stick in its bid for appointment to the
new telco panels being established by the NSW Government for voice, mobile and data
services.
David Tudehope, CEO, Macquarie Telecom said, “This model for corporate coaching,
empowering and partnership is delivering results.”
“The Alliance with Message Stick is a strategic investment for Macquarie Telecom in the
future of Indigenous Australia. We have taken a long term view on our investment with the
goal of achieving significant social capital gain while fostering the growth of a fresh
new player in the local telco market.”
Through its success, Message Stick aims to turn around the lives of other Indigenous
Australians and help them achieve economic self-determination.
To learn more about this unique alliance -
View the Vodcast from the ABC's Lateline Business | 
