address to parliament - BILLS - Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards and Other Measures) Bill 2023 - Second Reading

I'm truly grateful that we've been joined by the Minister for Communications. At the outset, I'm going to be very bipartisan and give the minister some kudos. Her first visit as the minister, as I understand, was to the Riverina electorate. We met with Peter, Meegan, Todd and Lily McCarten at Naradhan. The McCartens operate a large mixed farming enterprise. At the time, they'd recently upgraded their internet through NBN Australia's Sky Muster Plus satellite service, and the minister was good enough to not only go and visit them at their farm but also, I understand, follow up with them and with the services that were being provided to that district. That's important. That's what a good minister does.

At the time, the minister also looked at the new solar farm on the Newell Highway just outside West Wyalong in Bland Shire. I can happily report to the minister that that is progressing very nicely. Each time I travel along the Newell Highway between West Wyalong and Forbes, I look at that project and reflect back to that day. Again, it's what can be done when ministers look to regional Australia, as the member for Nicholls has just said.

I joined the parliament with the member for Greenway back in 2010. I believe we've got a very good working relationship, and that's important.

As the member for Nicholls pointed out, the government should look at every piece of policy through the lens of how it is going to affect regional Australia, because it's regional Australia where the action is. I appreciate, Deputy Speaker Payne, that you're from this fine centre of Canberra. Canberra could not operate without what happens in regional Australia—it just could not. We saw that writ large during COVID. In those very dark days, it was regional Australia that led the way. It led the economy, through providing the food and through providing the resources that kept food on the table and the balance of payments as they should be. That is why communications are also so vital.

Back when my father was farming, if they needed to sell grain or stock, they had to get off their tractor or their farm implement, get in the ute, drive back to the house, get on the landline and hope that it coincided with the time that the seller or the buyer was available. Now they can do it on their tractors. They can do it and keep that tractor, or header or harvester or scarifier or whatever it might be, still operating. They can do it via telecommunications.

And farming is now very much in the digital world. Indeed, the farm equipment is operating with GPS technology. So it's not as it was, back in the day when a young Michael McCormack would sometimes deliberately drive the tractor off-line so that he wouldn't have to do it the next day, and his exasperated father would tell him: 'That was it! You've been banned from doing this until you can get your line straight,' and that was always great! But these days, the tractors literally drive themselves and not a skerrick of property or land is wasted. And that's important.

So that's why it is so important that we get communications right and continue that investment. That's why it's good that the minister is here.

This legislation does make a number of changes to the operation and enforcement of the statutory infrastructure provider regime. I heard the member for Nicholls talking about how important communications technology, digital technology, is to the irrigation systems and the channels and the operators within his fine electorate, where they grow so much of the food and fibre this nation relies upon. Again, that is of critical importance.

The SIP regime in this particular piece of legislation was established by the coalition government. It set rules related to the connection and supply of internet and voice services across Australia. The changes in this bill are aimed at providing better access to these services, with additional safeguards—and safeguards are so important—for consumers, and improved recourse in the event there is disputation. The bill seeks to provide clarity and certainty for industry and consumers.

As the member for Nicholls has pointed out, the coalition is broadly supportive of the bill. We do believe it is late. It has been unnecessarily delayed. I get that the minister has had other things on her mind, and I know how busy she would be. It's a big, broad portfolio.

The bill would also confirm the ability of the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman to deal with consumer complaints on SIP related issues. In addition, the bill expands the powers of the Australian Communications and Media Authority, ACMA, relating to reports on the performance of telecommunications companies. That is vital, because the government needs to ensure that companies are kept to their KPIs and are upfront and transparent and accountable to government.

Government makes a big investment in the communications space. I appreciate that telecommunications companies do as well.

But the SIP regime, as I say, was introduced by the coalition government. That was back in July 2020. It essentially acts as a universal broadband service guarantee. And those guarantees are necessary.

I know that my predecessor in the seat of Riverina, Kay Hull, crossed the floor on the sale of Telstra because she understood just how important it was for those universal service obligations and the biggest telco in the country to ensure that—both then and in the long distance future—they didn't forget the bush and that they didn't ignore their responsibilities when it came to providing those sorts of services. Given the fact that they are, in a sense, relying on government investment, given the fact that they have a lot of customers, some of those communities don't have a lot of consumers. They don't have a lot of people, but their ability to tap in to the economy and provide what is needed is absolutely important.

I'll give you two examples of those kinds of communities. One is Murringo near Young. I can remember the delight of that community when they were put online, so to speak, with a telecommunications tower. It brought them into the known universe. They had felt so isolated. I can remember a number of women in that community coming up to me at the launch and saying how important it was for them to be able to run their little businesses which were selling to the world and how this had brought them online. But it was more important, perhaps, for their children, some of whom were in the vital years of schooling. Every year in education is important, but year 12 of course is a big year. In year 11 and 12, when young people are doing their high school certificate, to be able to learn online and have access after they go home from school when they're doing their homework et cetera is of critical importance to their futures. The people of Murringo—particularly the women of Murringo—were so delighted.

The other community I do want to mention is Goobarragandra. There's a fellow there called Tony Keremelevski Tony was very concerned about the fact that so many people used that wonderful little 'escape' on the river near Tumut for holidays and camping, particularly during summer but during other seasons as well. The population swelled to double, if not quadruple, during the warmer months, and there were no telecommunications whatsoever. It becomes a safety issue. Not only that, Tony had family members who weren't exactly in the best of health, and he was concerned that one day there would be an incident either for the visitors or closer to home and they would not able to communicate with emergency authorities.

Tumut went out of my electorate, but I maintained advocacy through the member for Parkes, who was then in a regional development role as minister. We were able to get that communications tower for that community. I well recall ringing the member for Parkes on the day just to prove that the technology worked. It was rather an amusing conversation. I'm not quite sure that the member for Parkes realised that the entire audience there was listening. I think the transcript is available for those who wish to view it. It was rather an interesting conversation. I then announced to him that he was talking to the entire audience, and he changed his conversation very quickly. He was a good regional development minister who understood exactly what was required in these local communities. Murringo and Goobarragandra are vital for different reasons.

As I say, this legislation is important. It is broadly supported by the coalition. The bill does look to provide a refresh to a system introduced by us when we were in government, setting out the rules for connection, supply of internet and voice services. I would impress upon the minister—the member for Greenway—that, in relation to future rounds of mobile phone towers, the people who are ticking off on those should look beyond government electorates. I do think that's important. The member for Indi has joined us. The member for Indi's electorate never missed out under a coalition government, even though the seat was no longer in government when we were running the show. Sometimes I was quite jealous of the number of towers that the member for Indi got, as opposed to the member for Riverina—but that's another story! It was based on need and it was based on geography.

Dr Haines: They were excellent applications!

Mr McCORMACK: I will ignore the interjections! No doubt they were excellent applications—not just by the Independent member for Indi, who is also a good friend of mine.

The member for Wide Bay sits behind me too. He, as much as anybody, understands the importance of good communications not just because of his advocacy for his electorate but because his electorate takes in Noosa. That's important. The number of visitors who go there each summer is incredible. As a former police officer, he would well understand the importance of good communications and good mobile phone technology in a time of emergency and crisis.

This bill is something that the Minister for Communications promised would be in the House by the end of 2022. It is now 2024. I get the fact that she is busy. I understand the fact that this is largely an uncontroversial bill. But I do impress upon the minister—and she understands this because she not only is the communications minister but also communicate with other members—the importance of continuing the investment in regional Australia. This is not just for regional Australia and rural Australia but for remote Australia. I know we went through a complete referendum process last year for a voice to parliament. I'll tell you what's more important than a voice to parliament: that those remote communities in, particularly, the Northern Territory, Western Australia—I'll throw in South Australia, western New South Wales, and even Queensland; why stop there? What's important is getting Aboriginal communities to be able to have a voice on the phone that can be heard because there's technology there and they can be connected to the outside world. If ever there was importance for a voice for those communities, it's through mobile phone technology.

The bill is important. The bill is supported. Again, I'm pleased that the minister has seen fit to come in and listen to the contributions. That's not always done by government ministers. I know this minister has knowledge across the brief, and I appreciate her for that. I appreciate the work that she is doing. Again, it's so important that regional Australia is at the front and centre of anything to do with absolutely anything to do with communications because regional Australia is where the action in the economy is.