Peter McGauran (Gippsland, National Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

This is a debate about the privatisation of government business, and I feel that we should establish our credentials. The government’s credentials are on full show, having been consistent and considered over a long period of time, and the opposition have been hiding their credentials on privatisation. I just want to remind them that their leader has been up to his neck in the privatisation of Commonwealth government businesses over the years. He was proud of it and was actually abusive of previous coalition governments that did not reach his lofty standard and record number of privatisations. Forgive me if I have embarrassed the opposition by quoting the words of their now leader.

The Labor Party therefore comes to this debate without conviction or credibility. We believe that the government has had a massive conflict of interest as both the industry regulator and the owner of Australia’s largest telecommunications company. There is no getting away from that. Of course, so much of the debate and public controversy which has been generated in recent months by the current management of Telstra—it is in conflict with the regulator, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission—highlights the fact that the government, on the one hand as a majority owner of a telecommunications giant which is in a not too private nor too polite conflict with the regulator, cannot go on. It is unfair to Telstra’s competitors; it is unfair to the company; it is unfair to the shareholders; and it is most certainly unfair to consumers. It lacks certainty and transparency.

The simple fact is that governments should not be in the business of running businesses; businesses should be running businesses. The government’s role is to regulate appropriate consumer protections and to encourage a competitive marketplace, which we have done. Remember: the government does not have to own Telstra in order to regulate it. The government regulates all participants in the telecommunications industry, and this would continue regardless of the ownership structure of Telstra. The safeguards include, by way of regulation, the universal service obligation, the customer service guarantee, price controls and other important consumer protections. As a result, our strong regulatory regime has ensured fairer prices; untimed local calls; minimum service standards; mandated repair times; reasonable, improved mobile phone coverage; encouragement of competition; and an increasing rollout of broadband across Australia. These consumer protections remain in place as the government moves forward on the sale of Telstra.

At the same time, the government is investing an additional $3.1 billion in telecommunications through the Connect Australia package and the $2 billion Communications Fund. These investments will help roll out affordable broadband across Australia, improve mobile coverage, roll out high-capacity networks for health and education initiatives and provide affordable telecommunications services to many more remote Indigenous communities.

So the government has a strong record of achievement in telecommunications. We do not believe the job is anywhere near done. There is a great deal more to be achieved. We have a heavy responsibility to provide an equivalence of service between non-metropolitan consumers and communities and to bridge the telecommunications gap between urban and rural Australia, and we will live up to that responsibility. All of these commitments, policies and safeguards of the government, proven over our time in office, will continue to apply to Telstra and all carriers, regardless of ownership, because they are all provided for in regulation.

There have been enormous benefits from the government’s oversight and stewardship of Telstra in our 10 years in office. As we have moved towards the full privatisation of Telstra, the reliability and availability of telephone services have improved while the cost of services has reduced. Let us look at some of the facts and figures, so that even the Labor Party—

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