Alston to add value to Hansen, not Telstra

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Shares in Hansen Technologies shot up almost 12 per cent yesterday after the telecommunications services group added former communications minister Richard Alston to its board.

Mr Alston will become Hansen's third independent director, after Bruce Adams and Geoff Tomlinson, who is also a National Australia Bank director.

Mr Alston, who stood down as minister in October and resigned from the Senate in February, will be paid about $50,000 for the directorship.

It will be his first seat on the board of a public company.

Telstra is one of Hansen's key clients, as are Alinta, AGL, TXU and British Telecom.

In April, Prime Minister John Howard suggested Mr Alston as a possible replacement for former Telstra chairman Bob Mansfield. Mr Alston said at the time he had no interest in the job.

Mr Alston yesterday repeated that he was not interested in being Telstra's chairman. "I was grateful to the Prime Minister for his character reference (in April) but other than that there were always plenty of other things that I was interested in."

The former minister said he would "probably" buy shares in Hansen in due course. He has none at present.

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The Melbourne-based company, which has a market capitalisation of $26 million, designs and integrates billing systems and other software platforms, mainly for large telecommunication and utility companies.

Hansen managing director Andrew Hansen said the board had been looking for a suitable director for the past year.

"We've been looking for some time for a board member who is going to add some value . . . we believe his contacts and knowledge of the way government runs will give us some insight into improving our speed of sales into the market," he said.

Hansen chairman Ken Hansen said having Mr Alston as a director would enable Hansen to take maximum advantage of opportunities arising from more deregulated utility markets. Mr Alston's appointment is effective from July 29.

We believe his contacts and knowledge of the way government runs will . . . (add value). ANDREW HANSEN, MD