Sam Birrell (Nicholls, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Health) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2025. As the member for Riverina pointed out, it is 2026, and this was supposed to be delivered over 12 months ago. But here we are. Communications is foundational infrastructure. My electorate of Nicholls is regional and it is rural, but it is far from remote. It is also relatively flat, but you don't have to drive far out of the major cities and towns to find mobile connectivity issues. In the Waaia area, a constituent was unable to make a triple zero call when her child had an epileptic seizure. In another small community called Bearii, locals struggle with poor and intermittent mobile reception.

Reliable phone coverage is not a lifestyle extra or a consumer perk; it is essential. We found that out very recently. Fires devastated parts of my electorate, including parts of the member for Indi's electorate, around the Longwood region, and people's reliance on their mobile phone connectivity was essential. I do recall and reflect on the Strengthening Telecommunications Against Natural Disasters program, which was a feature of the previous coalition government. It strengthened a lot of the telecommunications infrastructure. It has been noted that that has been a benefit when experiencing natural disasters, such as fire and flood.

For small businesses, farmers and freight operators, reliable mobile coverage is essential to running day-to-day operations, coordinating logistics and responding quickly to changing conditions on the ground. For families separated by distance, especially across regional and remote Australia, it is fundamental to ensuring they remain connected. For anyone travelling beyond metropolitan areas, mobile coverage is first and foremost a safety mechanism. It provides reassurance that help can be summoned if something goes wrong. Australia's geography is challenging, but new technologies, such as direct-to-device services, show promise in delivering vital telecommunications services. That must be matched by a framework that delivers genuine reliability, not just promises. The last mile is usually the most difficult and the most expensive.

Telecommunications affordability remains a critical issue, in particular, for households and businesses in regional and remote areas. If compliance with a new obligation significantly increases infrastructure costs, then those costs are likely to be reflected in retail pricing. Telecommunications policy must anticipate these structural impacts rather than respond to them after the fact. I note that, in this bill, there's the opportunity for the government to use funds in the Public Interest Telecommunications Services Special Account to support contracts or grants for the UOMO that maximise public interest outcomes, and the public interest in remote Australia is that services are delivered at a cost people living there can afford. Regional consumers already face higher service costs and fewer competitive options than their metropolitan counterparts. A universal obligation must not translate to higher bills for those it is intended to support.

This objective is sensible, but it must deliver. The coalition supports the goal of extending voice and text coverage outdoors across more of the country because improved connectivity for regional Australians is simply the right thing to do, and it's absolutely necessary for those people living out there. The legislative framework must genuinely expand coverage, and it must do this in a practical, reliable and affordable way. An obligation must be clearly defined so that carriers understand precisely what is required of them and consumers understand what they are entitled to expect. Terms such as 'reasonably available' and 'equitable access' must be translated into measurable, enforceable standards, rather than left as broad concepts, open to interpretation. Emerging technology is critically important as we continue on with legislation and the offering of services in relation to telecommunications.

Direct-to-device satellite technology represents an exciting development in telecommunications, with the potential to reduce longstanding coverage gaps across vast regions of Australia. Yet it remains a developing technology. Accelerating the rollout is essential, but legislating an outcome does not magically deliver it. The legislation in this case does leave some questions unanswered. Domestic carriers may bear the primary regulatory burden, but they will depend heavily on international satellite providers whose pricing models and deployment schedules are out of Australia's direct control. It is essential that any new obligation strengthen market competition, rather than inadvertently consolidate it in the hands of a few.

Regional Australians, older Australians and small businesses often retain devices for longer periods, either out of financial necessity or practical preference. A reform that functions only for the latest high-end smartphones would undermine the very principle of equitable access it claims to advance. Emergency triple zero access, in particular, must not be contingent on owning a recently released premium handset. The hard lessons of the government's failed rollback of the 3G network show that device compatibility cannot be treated as a secondary issue or left to chance. The government has a mixed track record on communications. The 3G shutdown was a foreseeable and planned change, but implementation led to confusion, late identification of incompatible devices and, too often, inadequate communication to consumers. Some of those consumers were forced into unplanned handset upgrades, and small businesses faced disruption to their operations. That was not an unforeseeable event; it was a transition that required rigorous oversight and proactive management by the government, and that oversight fell short.

In relation to triple zero and the consequences of failure, communication policy has real world consequences, as we all know. Australians cannot afford another botched rollout. We need assurance that the systems we put in place will not leave Australians with older handsets behind and vulnerable. There is no tolerance for error when it comes to emergency services and connectivity. 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 is absolutely essential.

There is a practical and a competent path forward. The coalition believes in expanding connectivity and embracing new technologies that can close longstanding coverage gaps. We have a record of investing in regional connectivity and in backing programs that deliver practical improvements on the ground. The coalition spearheaded the Mobile Black Spot Program after Labor declined to invest in improved connectivity in the regions. I saw significant improvements in regional mobile phone accessibility during the years of the coalition government before I came into parliament.

When I was running for parliament in 2022, I faced some pretty stiff competition from an Independent candidate—and that's fair enough. All's fair in love and war. Some of the Independent candidate's supporters kept pointing to me and saying, 'We've got more mobile phone towers in Indi than Nicholls,' and they were referring to the coalition government who had been in power for nine years. And I said, 'Well, the reason Indi has got more mobile phone towers is not because they've got an Independent representative; it's because they've got more hills.' The undulating geography of Indi meant that it had requirements for more mobile phone towers than Nicholls did. But the Independents wanted to make a big deal of this, saying, 'The Independents shout louder and get more done.' What that shows you is that the Mobile Black Spot Program was put out on need, not for who represents the particular electorate. That's a bit different from what we saw recently.

An investigation was launched in August 2023 by the Australian National Audit Office into the federal Labor government's mobile black spot funding program following allegations that funding was disproportionately allocated to Labor held electorates. Key findings and details regarding the allegations included a funding disparity, with reports indicating that 74 per cent of the 54 locations selected for funding in round 6 of the programs were in Labor held seats. The government's defence was that it was fulfilling election commitments.

Now, fulfilling election commitments is all very well, but making sure that the electorates most in need get the towers and get the coverage is more important. I'd be amazed if Labor electorates are more in need of those electorates. If you had have looked at it in terms of need, you would have seen a pretty broad spread but possibly more to the more remote electorates that are traditionally held by people from the coalition side of politics. So the rollout of telecommunications has got to be based on need and not on trying to make election promises to seats that you might hold or want to win.

We also believe that reform must be grounded in technical realism, economic responsibility and rigorous oversight. I note that, in this policy, we're looking at—I'll use this phrase—technology agnosticism.

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