Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the document.

The Telstra Sale Co. Ltd Report for 2007-08 reminds us of the failed National Broadband Network proposal of the current federal Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Conroy. Telstra has said that had the OPEL contract gone ahead it would have been operational by now. That means that people in the vast state of Queensland currently do not have the ability to access broadband services to the extent they would have if the OPEL contract had gone ahead.

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Has Labor failed Queensland, Senator Macdonald?

Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think that is fairly obvious, Senator Brandis, certainly at the federal level. I am distressed to say that the Queensland government have not put the sort of pressure on Senator Conroy that they should have to ensure that we have an adequate service in Queensland. I would have liked to have seen the Queensland government pick up the phone to their Labor mates. You know Premier Bligh has very close connections with both the Prime Minister and the Treasurer. She could have got in touch with them, or Senator Conroy, and said: ‘For the good of the Queensland economy, we must have a decent broadband system and it must be there urgently. Never mind about the long-term process that Senator Conroy has embarked upon which will not end up delivering services in rural and regional Queensland; let’s go with the OPEL project. Let’s ensure that there is service available to Queenslanders at the earliest possible time.’

I feel ashamed that my state government, led by Ms Bligh, has not stood up for us, has not had the backbone and the fortitude to get in there and fight for Queenslanders. As Senator Mason just said, the economy of our state is falling behind, and it is going to fall more behind the rest of Australia because we do not have an adequate broadband service, particularly for rural and regional Australia.

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor doesn’t care!

Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor simply does not care; you are quite right, Senator Brandis. It is becoming more and more apparent in any way you look: across the spectrum of state or federal government actions, Queensland is up there. Mr Rudd thinks it is a safe area for him. Premier Bligh has a huge majority and thinks she will walk it in again. They simply do not care about all of those things that are so important to Queenslanders.

We have spoken today about the emissions trading scheme, how that will decimate Queensland. Senator Mason has just spoken—

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I rise on a point of order going to relevance. I fail to see how the speech that Senator Macdonald is giving in relation to the Queensland election campaign has anything to do with the sale of Telstra report for 2007-08. I ask you to pull him into accord.

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, on the point of order: as you know—although as Senator Arbib is a very new senator, perhaps he does not fully appreciate this—there is wide latitude given in these debates in relation to matters germane to the document. What Senator Macdonald is addressing is the Telstra sale report, which, if you look at it, and I am sure we have all studied this document with care, does deal with regional services in Queensland. The point Senator Macdonald is making is, if I may submit with respect, a relevant point—that is, the failure of the Queensland state Labor government to use whatever influence it may have over the Rudd federal Labor government, and particularly the communications minister, has materially diminished the interests of the people in regional Queensland who rely upon these telecommunication services.

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

With all due respect to Senator Brandis, and I do admit that he has been here much longer than I have, and has much more knowledge about the procedures—

Guy Barnett (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Arbib, what is your point of order?

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My point of order is that Senator Macdonald is no longer talking about Telstra, no longer talking about communications. He has moved on to the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, which has no relevance whatsoever to the report.

Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Acting Deputy President, just on the point of order, I am disappointed that Senator Arbib has taken this point of order, which has effectively guillotined my speech pointing out how Queensland was being short-changed. I can understand why the Labor Party do not want me to talk about this—they do not want those listening to this debate to understand how awful the government has been in Queensland—but I was germane to the subject. I was talking about broadband and how, if we have an ETS, it would impact upon regional Queensland as regional Queensland is also impacted upon by the broadband network. That is the connection.

The Acting Deputy President:

Senator Macdonald, thank you for that. I am prepared to rule on the matter. I have been listening carefully to Senator Macdonald, and I will continue to listen carefully to Senator Macdonald. You can speak broadly to the report. I think you have been acting in that manner and, accordingly, there is no point of order.

Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Acting Deputy President. The Telstra sale document that we are talking about really highlights what Telstra has done in the broadband area, but what more could have been done for Queensland had the OPEL contract gone ahead? It would have been up and running by now. While Senator Arbib and others do not like me saying this, what I am distressed about is that the Queensland government, which should be looking after Queenslanders, has not lifted a finger to try to make sure that the national broadband network—the OPEL contract, which would have provided that by now—is going ahead. I am embarrassed, I am stressed as a Queenslander, that we have not had the sort of leadership from our state government, the sort of get in there and have a go, fighting Premier who will stand up for Queensland. We have not had that.

Question agreed to.