Sol Trujillo 'untrustworthy' but can you trust the survey?

Stuart Corner
Monday, 23 June 2008 06:27

Opinion and Analysis

The Tell The Truth Telstra (T4) campaigners have seized on the results of the Readers Digest annual "Australia's Most Trusted People" list to claim it found that "Australian’s rate Sol Trujillo, CEO of Telstra, amongst the least trustworthy people in the country." That is hardly telling the truth.

It's true that he came it at 95, topping an un-illustrious bunch comprising David Hicks (97),  Ben Cousins (98); Wayne Carey (99) and Rodney Adler (100). It's also true that he has consistently languished at the bottom of the rankings in the two years prior, coming in at 98 in 2007 (ahead of only Shane Warne and Mark Latham) and at 97 in 2007, ahead of only Anthony Mundine, David Hicks and Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali, former senior Muslim cleric, Mufti of Australia.

But "amongst the least trustworthy people in the country," hardly. According to Readers Digest "To conduct our Trust Poll we commissioned an independent research firm, The Leading Edge, to survey a representative sample of  750 Australian adults. They were asked to rate how much they trusted 100 well-known people on a scale of one to ten." So, Sol was rated only in a bunch of 100  the composition of which was determined by Readers Digest on who knows what basis.

It would not surprise me if most of them hadn't a clue who he was. The only other business leaders in the list were James Packer, Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch and Peter Holmes a Court, who also happens to own South Sydney Rugby League Club. None fared particularly well: all were in the 80s.