Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Hansard source

I note that we are talking about the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2025. As the shadow minister for regional communications, I want to assure the House and anyone who happens to be listening that I have been very involved in looking at this bill in its entirety.

Having just heard the previous speaker on Labor's side of the bench, I too want to believe in Tinkerbell and fairy dust, but the reality is that this bill leaves much to be desired. While we welcome efforts to bring mobile phone service into the Universal Service Obligation, this bill does not hit the mark. This is, once again, a political headline without substance. It's making into law something that the private sector was going to implement anyway, and the Labor government is taking a pat on the back for it as it goes through. That's coupled with a smoke and mirrors trick of a December 2027 start date but with the power to push it out for years if that doesn't happen to work.

We can see the history of this government in the telecommunications portfolio through the failures of the disastrous 3G shutdown. I called for action on the recommendations of the Senate inquiry into the 3G shutdown late last year. But, since then, the minister has been missing in action. The inquiry recommended a program to help customers who lost mobile coverage due to the 3G shutdown and subsidies to improve service and replace obsolete devices and equipment. These have not happened. Thousands of regional Australians face worse coverage or no coverage at all since the 3G shutdown. Phones drop to SOS mode, medical alarms fail and farmers are left without connectivity on their own properties.

Christine from Cumnock, New South Wales, had to travel even further after a car accident simply to call triple zero on a landline at a nearby house because she didn't have mobile phone reception. She's not the only one. Joe from Meckering, Western Australia, who called in while I was on Perth 6PR radio, said he has regular visitors at his home on the transcontinental highway asking to use his landline because, contrary to network indications, there is no mobile phone reception on his section of the highway. Mobile phone service is going backwards. An ABC article on Saturday described the experience of Ian from Newborough in the Latrobe Valley, Victoria—I'm standing next to the member for Gippsland—who used to have full mobile phone coverage in his lounge room but now has one bar and sometimes none. We know of complaints data from the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman for quarter 2 of 2025-26, which highlighted that complaints about having no phone or internet service were up by 41.6 per cent, and complaints about intermittent service or dropouts were up by 21.6 per cent.

Coming back to the bill before the House—this will not result in a UOMO, a universal outdoor mobile obligation, but rather a SOMO, a sometimes outdoor mobile obligation. If the government were serious about genuine delivery of outdoor coverage, it would develop mandatory domestic roaming. Why is it okay for international visitors to have this access but not Australians? A universal mobile obligation must be truly universal without escape clauses to allow the minister to exclude geographic areas where it might be all too hard, along with cars and boats. A universal mobile obligation must put the onus on telecommunications providers and the government to compensate consumers if technology shutdowns are required to implement the requirements of UOMO—for example, if 4G happens to shut down due to limited spectrum availability in the future. Let's not imagine that won't happen. A universal mobile obligation must include protections for rural and remote consumers to ensure the cost of implementing the law is not passed on to them, making services more expensive.

There must be transparency measures to ensure the reliability of the triple zero system, as the minister has presided over considerable failings on this front. This government cannot be trusted with emergencies. There have been two triple zero failures on this government's watch: two serious Optus outages, plus devices such as Samsung, OPPO and Apple being disconnected due to their inability to connect to triple zero.

The government should expedite work to develop a scalable method of text to triple zero for mass adoption to enable increased access now to emergency services in areas with text-only D2D connectivity—direct to device, for those who are not aware. This exists in several other countries. The government may claim that UOMO is a world first, but is it if it is really a SOMO with several extension dates? They claim also that D2D calling ability is still some time away, so why not activate text to triple zero via satellite now? A potential pilot of mass-adoption text to triple zero was recently confirmed by department of infrastructure officials. Why not include that requirement in this bill?

A bill which focuses on providing mobile coverage outdoors when there is a direct line of sight to the sky will not adequately address the needs of so many rural, regional and remote consumers who want and need mobile coverage to go about their everyday lives, such as when the weather is bad, when there is smoke from bushfires, when they are in a vehicle, car, boat or tractor or when they are in a public indoor space without wi-fi—for example, doing shopping or business in town.

UOMO is supposed to be technology agnostic, yet there is nothing included to address improvements to or expansion of the terrestrial network. This is essential to meet consumers' needs in a comprehensive way. The Labor government must commit to also addressing the deficiencies of the terrestrial network. Upgrades will continue to be essential. For example, small rural towns with terrestrial coverage with limited capacity are overwhelmed when tourists arrive for special events and cannot keep pace with increased consumer demand. Some of those special events include the Wimmera field days—which are happening right now—the speed field days, the Deni Ute Muster, or the steampunk festival in Dimboola. It happens everywhere where there is a sudden influx of thousands of people but there is nothing to assist.

What has happened to the Mobile Black Spot Program evaluation from January 2025? Crickets from the minister; maybe she has had trouble connecting. It needs expansion to dual focus on providing new coverage and improving the quality and reliability of existing coverage when events come to smaller towns, as I've just alluded to, or when towns grow and existing infrastructure simply cannot cope. Also, there needs to be a focus on enhancing resilience of existing mobile infrastructure to prevent outages and power failures in bad weather or natural disasters.

Australians in the bush have waited for the minister since April 2025 for around eight projects of the Mobile Black Spot Program to be announced—that's nearly 12 months. Rural and remote consumers suffer through outages and periods of maintenance at present, with no requirement for a replacement service and no limits on the timeframe. Developing consumer protections for mobile services as they exist for fixed voice services under the USO is another essential action. This government, under the minister who presided over the shocking failings of the 3G shutdown and Optus triple zero failures in 2025, has no interest in broader USO reform. They have sat on a consultation about better universal services since 2024, much like they've sat on the recommendation to review the triple-zero system since 2024.

This bill must go to a Senate committee. That is what the coalition will be calling for. Structural reform of this scale warrants comprehensive parliamentary examination. Given the government's record on 3G and triple zero, due diligence is not optional; it's essential. The coalition is serious about genuine reform that brings the USO into the 21st century and addresses complex issues, not just headline grabs and political wins.

See this speech in context