In the extraordinary outburst, Dr Freeth described Telstra's wholly owned subsidiary as "like a Walt Disney Bambi character" and said customer service was "indifferent at best, rubbish at worst". He also revealed that TelstraClear's chairman, David Thodey, had accused him of "running a company that 'was out of control"'. TelstraClear's loss deteriorated from $NZ19 million in 2005 to $NZ20 million for the year to June, according to the parent company's financial statements released in August.