Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Small Business) Share this | Hansard source

I'd like to start by acknowledging the previous speaker and the sentiment that she finished with, which is that the bill is focused on there being no standard, for an Australian, where anybody is above what is right or wrong. It's a point that we in this parliament, and those who have had the great privilege of serving in parliament, should all reflect upon and is perhaps something that the former premier of Victoria should be thinking about at this important moment in the context of his behaviour in Beijing in the past 24 hours.

Getting to the Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) Bill 2025, this legislation, on the surface of it, is not one that should necessarily quicken the blood or excite many of the members in this House. It's to do with ACMA regulations in the context of making sure there are appropriate standards in place and extending them beyond carriage providers, and I get that, for a lot of people, this may not be a very exciting or enthusing topic. Of course, it's very important. When legislation's drafted, particularly for telecommunications or technology—technology will always outpace regulation and the law. In one sense, that's actually a good thing. Technology is moving at a pace that is faster than government. Government should be slower because it is calm, it is methodical, and, when it seeks to impose a standard, it is universal, whereas technology, by its nature, is dynamic, it is exciting, and it seeks to move faster, because it's reflective of human need.

That is why I've always been so excited about technology and excited about the potential not just of things like internet, of course, and telecommunications but also of what artificial intelligence can do. But we're also mindful of the human impact, and, of course, that's where law comes in to maintain standards and ethics but also to make sure that, where there's an overstep or a breach, government does its proper job to secure safety, dignity and security. And that's a constant balance for all of us.

But another thing we have to look at is how law can be weaponised by government to seek to silence or censor people. So I look at this bill—and we're going to support it—but I do so, frankly, with caution. I'm old enough—and I'm not that old—to remember the last time we had a Labor government. There are members in this chamber who weren't here and are now, bright eyed and bushy tailed—some elected in 2025 and some that were elected before then—sitting on the government benches, proudly wearing the moniker of the Australian Labor Party—

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