Anne Urquhart (Braddon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Deputy Speaker Chesters, as you know, I take every opportunity to sing the praises of the electorate of Braddon. It's my home, I was born there, and I love it. One of the remarkable things about Braddon is its rugged natural environment. Much of the electorate is remote, and some parts of it are very remote. The wilderness areas right across the electorate are spectacular: trees, mountains—everything that gets in the way of technology. But isolation is something that the remote communities that make up the north-west and west coast and King Island understand, and it's no surprise that the west coast of Tasmania, down around Queenstown and other areas, was chosen not once but twice as the location for the TV show Alonewell worth watching, for those of you who haven't, if only for the spectacular scenery.

Its remoteness, the vast areas of wilderness and the difficult landscapes have all meant that the west coast of Tasmania particularly has experienced poor-quality connectivity and mobile services. They have above average rainfall. It's a rainforest area. It's spectacular. But, again, all that impacts on technology and connectivity. It's very frustrating for the people who live, work and study in or visit that region. I regularly meet with the telco carriers right across the electorate, because there are pockets of service that is not up to speed, and I want to make them aware of it. But this is something that hasn't happened overnight. There's been a litany of upgrades not being done over a long period of time, by various governments. I want to make sure that the people of my electorate have their voices heard.

I also make the telcos meet with the people of our community. A couple of weeks ago I had Telstra come out to a community meeting at Port Sorell, which is a really heavy growing area, with lots of visitors and tourists during the summer, when the population explodes to about three or four times the normal population size. And those people there can't get connectivity in their homes. So Telstra were asked to come and address a community meeting. I've got to say, they came along and they did a fantastic job of listening to concerns and listening to the issues that were raised. They took them on board, and now they're going back out to actually work with people right across that place to see what they need to do.

On the long stretches of highway and roads on the north-west and west coast, poor connectivity is a safety issue for residents and visitors and for the truck and delivery drivers, the tradies and health workers who travel right across our electorate to deliver their absolutely essential services. In the winter particularly, when we have lots of periods of snow, it's even more dangerous out on those roads. Even though I might say that the solitude and peace of not having that mobile phone ringing while you're travelling down that highway is sometimes welcoming, it is an essential service that we need to make sure people can have if they choose to.

Labor believes that the west coast and other areas right across my electorate deserve connectivity that is fast, reliable and affordable. That's why, during the 2025 election, the Albanese government announced a new investment of $9.8 million to boost mobile coverage and tower capacity. This federal co-investment will leverage investments by carriers to upgrade traditional technology and improve reliability. Even with significant investment by government and industry, the provision of traditional mobile coverage to 100 per cent of our vast continent is still not possible. And we are vast, and we have regions, as I said, like areas of Braddon, where normal connectivity is difficult to achieve. Traditional mobile coverage is currently provided in areas where about 99 per cent of Australians work and live but covers only one third of the Australian landmass. In those areas without coverage, it's not possible to make a triple zero call by using traditional mobile services.

Reliable connectivity is an essential service that every Australian deserves, regardless of where they live, be it on the mainland or on Tasmania's beautiful west coast. It is exciting that new technology now makes this possible, and we know that new technology is emerging regularly. Low Earth orbit satellite direct-to-device technology enables standard, unmodified modern smartphones to connect directly to satellites for SMS, voice and data in remote areas, bypassing traditional cell towers.

It's Labor that is taking this initiative to introduce the most significant reform to regional connectivity through a new universal outdoor mobile obligation. Labor's universal outdoor mobile obligation will require mobile carriers, like Telstra, Optus and TPG, to provide access to mobile, voice and SMS almost everywhere across Australia. Satellite to mobile offers a future where outdoor connectivity for basic services is possible in some of the furthest reaches across the country.

With this bill, Labor is adding up to five million square kilometres of new mobile coverage across the country, including more than 37,000 kilometres of regional roads. This will add up to 12,000 square kilometres of new outdoor voice and SMS mobile coverage across my electorate of Braddon. Outdoor SMS and voice are expected to be available on 1 December 2027, which is when all three operators—Telstra, Optus and TPG—will be required to ensure that baseline mobile coverage is available outdoors throughout Australia. Importantly, the universal outdoor mobile obligation will also expand connectivity options for Australians during natural disasters, which frequently impact land based mobile networks. This bill looks to the future by creating the flexibility to adjust the scope and timing of the universal outdoor mobile obligation as the market develops and satellite technologies evolve.

It's really important that we have a number of people right across the country—organisations, groups—who back our policy. Some of those are the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, the National Farmers' Federation, the New South Wales RFS, the Regional Telecommunications Independent Review Committee, and regional councils, who usually are at the forefront of making sure people within their electorates have coverage.

The Albanese Labor government is delivering a better and more connected future, not just for regional and remote Tasmania but for all of Australia. Labor's vision is clear: we want Australia to be the most connected continent in the world so that, no matter where you live or what you do, you can connect. I commend the bill to the House.

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