Dan Repacholi (Hunter, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak in strong support for the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2025. I do so as the member for Hunter, representing one of the most diverse regions in the country. It's a place of regional cities, mining towns, farming communities and some of the very best wine in the world. It has bushland, national parks and long stretches of highway. It's a place where people work hard, look after each other and too often have had to live with patchy or non-existent mobile coverage once stepping outside town limits. For communities like mine, this bill is not abstract. It is not theoretical. It is practical. It is overdue. It will make a real difference to people's safety, livelihoods and peace of mind in the Hunter.

At its core, this bill establishes the universal outdoor mobile obligation for the first time in Australia's history. It recognises something regional Australians have been saying for years, if not decades—that mobile connectivity is no longer a luxury. It is essential infrastructure and it should not stop at the edge of town. Right now, traditional mobile coverage reaches areas where around 99 per cent of Australians live and work, but it covers only about one-third of Australia's landmass. In the remaining two-thirds of the country, including in vast parts of the Hunter, it simply is not possible to make a triple zero call by using a standard mobile phone. That is a gap this legislation addresses. The Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation will require Telstra, Optus and TPG to provide reasonable and equitable access to outdoor mobile voice and text services almost everywhere across this country. It will ensure that whether you are broken down on a regional road, injured on a farm, working in the bush or caught in the natural disaster you can look up, see the sky and make a call for help. For the Hunter, that is a real game changer.

The Hunter is not one uniform place. It includes dense regional centres, like Singleton and Cessnock, but also isolated rural areas, like Laguna, Paynes Crossing, Putty and large parts of the Upper Hunter. It includes mining operations, vineyards, cattle properties, tourism areas and long-haul transport routes. In many of those places, mobile coverage drops out very quickly once you leave town. People know exactly where the black spots are. They slow down to send a text message before they lose signal. They plan trips around coverage. They carry UHF radios or satellite phones, if they can afford them, or their daughters ask them to stop a little bit sooner so they can make sure they can send a message. But too many people don't have those options.

I've heard from Hunter residents who have broken down on the back roads with no reception. I've heard from farmers who have been injured on their own properties and have had to drive until they find a signal. I've heard from families worried sick because somebody was overdue and uncontactable. I've heard from parents whose kids travel long distances on school buses through areas with no mobile coverage. I've heard from shift workers who drive home late at night on dark regional roads, with no way to call for help if something goes wrong. This bill speaks directly to those experiences. It brings mobile services into the universal services framework for the very first time. In doing so, it recognises that safety should not be dependent on your postcode.

One of the strengths of this legislation is that it is technology neutral but outcome focused. It does not mandate one single solution; instead, it requires mobile network operators to meet the obligation by using a combination of their existing terrestrial networks and new direct-to-device technology enabled by low-Earth-orbit satellites. That flexibility matters, and it's important to acknowledge that we are not starting from scratch. Telstra has already been rolling out the direct-to-device satellite enabled services in Australia. This allows basic SMS and voice connectivity in areas without traditional mobile coverage. In parts of regional Australia, including areas relevant to the Hunter, that service is already making a real difference.

I've heard directly from people who've been able to send messages from places where they never could have before. I've heard from workers in remote locations who can now check in on family. I've heard from travellers who feel safer in knowing that they have a backup if something goes wrong. That existing Telstra service shows exactly what's possible. It shows that this technology works, and it shows why this government needs to step in to make sure it is available to everybody, not just those on one network or in one location. This bill builds on that progress and scales it nationally. It ensures that all three major carriers are required to provide baseline outdoor mobile coverage rather than leave it to individual commercial decisions. It also improves competition because not one network should have a monopoly on safety.

Importantly, this legislation is not about replacing traditional mobile coverage; it is about expanding coverage to places where, despite decades of investment and co-investment, it has not been feasible to build towers. For the Hunter, that distinction matters. People want better mobile coverage in towns and along highways, and the government continues to invest in programs, like the Mobile Black Spot Program, to do exactly that. But we also need a solution for the places where towers simply are not practical. The Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation delivers that solution. Initially, the obligation will focus on voice and SMS services. That is deliberate. It reflects the current state of the technology and the primary objective of public safety. In an emergency, you do not need streaming or high-speed data. But you do need to be able to make a call, you need to be able to send a text message and you need a service to work reliably.

Over time, as technology evolves, this framework will allow the scope of obligation to be expanded. That flexibility is built into this legislation. The bill sets a default commencement date of 1 December 2025. That date sends a clear signal to industry that this is a clear priority, but it also allows flexibility to adjust timing if needed, based on market readiness and technical capabilities. That balance is extremely important. We are not sitting around waiting for the market to fix this on its own. We are legislating it now to make sure this crucial technology is deployed widely and equitably and that regional Australians benefit from it as soon as possible.

The bill also creates new powers to set standards, rules and benchmarks for mobile services. That includes the ability to step in if an industry does not deliver or if consumers are being left behind. For communities like mine, that accountability matters so much. People in the Hunter have heard plenty of promises over the years about connectivity. What they want now is delivery. This legislation creates a framework to ensure that that delivery actually happens.

I want to ground this in the conversations I have had across the Hunter, because this issue comes up everywhere I go. I've spoken with farmers in the Upper Hunter who have told me plainly that mobile coverage can disappear the moment that they leave the homestead. One bloke said to me that, when he's out checking his stock or fixing his fences, his phone might as well be a brick. If something goes wrong, if he is injured or his machinery fails, he knows he could be hours away from help. The ability to send a message or make a call from anywhere on his property would genuinely change how safe he feels doing his job on his own property.

I've spoken with small-business owners who operate tourism ventures in and around the Watagans and the Barrington foothills. They rely on mobile phones to take bookings, coordinate staff and reassure visitors. More than one operator has told me that they spend a good part of every day explaining to customers why there is no reception once they arrive. This affects confidence, repeat business and livelihoods. Knowing there is a basic level of outdoor coverage would make a real difference to how these businesses operate.

I've spoken with truckies and shiftworkers who travel long stretches of regional roads late at night. One transport worker told me that he has planned breaks around where he knows he can get reception just in case something happens. Another truckie said he worries about hitting wildlife or breaking down in areas where there is no signal at all. For people whose jobs depend on being on the road, this legislation is about safety, not convenience.

I've also spoken with parents, particularly in rural parts of the Hunter, who worry when their kids are travelling long distances for sport, work or school. One parent told me that the hardest part is not knowing whether their child has arrived safely because there are entire stretches where no messages can get through. Even the ability to send a simple text would ease that anxiety.

Local businesses have also told me how valuable Telstra's existing satellite backed services have been. I've heard from people who are able to send messages from properties or worksites where they never could before. It's not perfect, but it's progress, and it shows why this technology, when made universal, will have such a powerful impact. These are practical, everyday conversations. They are not about flashy technology or big promises. They are about being able to call for help, check in with the family, run a business and feel safe.

The benefits of this bill for the Hunter extend beyond emergencies. Better outdoor mobile coverage supports agriculture, mining, tourism and small businesses. It supports productivity and safety at worksites and job sites. It supports people travelling through the region and it supports community confidence.

It also supports our emergency services. When bushfires, floods or storms hit, communications are critical. This bill complements recent reforms to strengthen triple zero and restore public confidence in emergency call services. Expanding baseline mobile coverage improves the likelihood that people can access help when they need it most. I've spoken to Hunter residents who have lived through recent disasters and know how terrifying being cut off can be—no phone, no updates, no way to call for help. This bill is about reducing that risk.

It is also about fairness. Regional Australians pay phone bills, the same as everybody else. They contribute to the economy. They power this country through agriculture, mining and energy. They deserve the same level of safety and connectivity. For too long, people outside of the cities have been told that patchy coverage is just part of regional life and that they should accept this—that they should accept less. This bill says that that is no longer good enough. It brings mobile coverage into the universal services regime. It creates obligations, it creates accountability and it creates a pathway to close one of the most persistent digital divides in this country.

I also want to acknowledge the extensive consultation that has taken place on this legislation. Consumer groups, regional stakeholders, industry regulators and state and territory governments have all had input. Consumers and stakeholders strongly support this bill, particularly its focus on equitable access and safety. Industry has raised implementation issues, and there is time built into the framework to work through those issues responsibly. That is how good policy is made.

For the Hunter, the universal outdoor mobile obligation represents progress that people can see and feel. It means a farmer checking in from the paddock, a truckie being able to call for help on a remote stretch of road, a family feeling safer when loved ones are travelling and a worker being able to send a message from a site that was previously off the grid. Importantly, it builds on services that are already showing results. Telstra's existing direct-to-device service has demonstrated the value of satellite enabled connectivity. This bill ensures that value is shared, expanded and embedded into our national framework.

It is not about waiting for perfection; it is about taking a big step forward. The vision is clear: a country where you can step outside, look up and connect, no matter where you live, no matter where you work, no matter where you travel. For the Hunter, that vision matters. That's why I support the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2025, and that's why I commend it to the House.

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