Elizabeth Watson-Brown (Ryan, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2025. For too long, Australians, including in my electorate, have put up with dreadful and patchy phone service due to privatisation, cost cutting and government neglect. Both Labor and Liberal governments have not addressed the inevitable failures resulting from Telstra's privatisation, and my constituents are paying the price. This bill updates the relevant legislation to better reflect modern technology but doesn't address the real issue at its heart: privatisation of what should be public services does not work. The Greens will support this bill in the House and reserve our position in the Senate.

In 2026, access to phone and internet reception is an essential service. A phone call in an emergency can be the difference between life and death. In the case of a fall or a heart attack, or during one of the extreme weather events we've experienced so often in my electorate lately, people need to be able to reach out for help, but in my electorate—the vast majority of which is less than 20 kilometres from the Brisbane CBD—people are left without basic phone and internet access. In a wealthy country like Australia, this is absolutely unacceptable. It's particularly bad in areas in my electorate like Brookfield, Upper Brookfield and Kenmore Hills, where recent power outages due to summer storms exacerbated the issue. With roads cut off, some parts of those communities have had absolutely no way whatsoever to communicate with the outside world—in 2026.

One of my constituents, from Kenmore Hills, wrote to me about the shockingly bad phone and internet reception he experiences at home. He tells me his area receives negligible Telstra mobile reception, frequently not even enough to load a webpage or just place a phone call. He says this becomes critical during severe weather and power outages, including one example when they were left without electricity, internet or phone signal for three days following storms. He rightly points out the safety implications for elderly residents, for stranded motorists and for people experiencing power outages. As my constituent put it, 'We are not seeking special treatment, only a basic level of reliable service that supports emergency communication and community safety.'

Another constituent, from Brookfield, told me their poor mobile service means they cannot reliably make phone calls from inside the house. They said the Telstra map shows they should receive 5G, but it simply doesn't happen. They're not even covered by the Optus map, so they're looking at spending thousands of dollars to install a repeater. That should not be necessary, especially in a suburb just 12 kays out from the CBD.

Down in Moggill, again in my electorate, locals also report frequent issues. For example, even the local shopping complex doesn't have reception inside. A large commercial complex 20 kays from the CBD having no reception is just not good enough. This is not only a safety issue but also an economic policy failure. We know what it's called when one corporation has control over the entire market. It's called a monopoly. In areas where Telstra is the only provider, it is operating a monopoly over phone and internet services. This is bad news for consumers like my constituents, who suffer as a result of no competition to lower prices or to improve customer service.

But this failure is not just an accident. It's not just an aberration. This is a direct result of decisions made by the federal government. The government did a deal with Telstra in 2012 whereby Telstra received a plum 20-year exclusive contract worth $297 million every year. That's nearly $300 million paid annually by the taxpayer to Telstra in exchange for providing theoretically universal coverage, though, as my constituents know all too well, the coverage Telstra provides is nowhere near universal. You might think that, given we're already paying for this coverage in our taxes, consumers could access Telstra's phone and internet services for free or at the very least have a provider be a public service owned by the Commonwealth. Certainly, you wouldn't expect that such a deal could be allowed to benefit a private corporation's profit line. But no. Telstra was privatised by the Howard government and has stayed privatised under every Labor and Liberal government since. So Telstra, a private corporation, not only receives $300 million a year from the taxpayer but also gets to charge consumers what they damn well like for what should be a government owned and run public service. For people like my constituents, for whom Telstra is the only available provider, the government has effectively chosen to set up a private, for-profit monopoly, and taxpayers are paying for the privilege.

Essential services, especially utilities like service providers, who can easily form monopolies, should be in public hands. They should never have been sold off in the first place. Running these services for profit means they are not being run for public good. Private providers are not incentivised to provide universal quality service if it's not profitable. So, rather than making small tweaks around the edges, the government has an opportunity here—a good opportunity—to demonstrate some courage. I call on the government to bring phone and internet provision back into public hands and finally guarantee decent coverage for all Australians.

See this speech in context