Simon Kennedy (Cook, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

In the 21st century in Australia, reliable phone coverage is not a lifestyle extra. It's not a consumer perk. It's foundational national infrastructure. It underpins our relationships, our families, our businesses and even our safety. Phone coverage isn't just an issue in far-out regional areas. In Sydney, in the seat of Cook, we face this all the time. Constituents are continually raising concerns about persistent mobile black spots and poor reception, including in the Miranda region, which includes one of the largest Westfields in Sydney. We're not talking about an area in some remote, far-flung part of Australia, which also should demand good coverage. We are talking about Sydney. It's not a minor inconvenience.

I'd like to read some of the feedback I am getting from constituents about this, particularly about the T4 line. Again, this is not some far-flung, regional line. This is a line that services 410,000 customers per day, or one-third of Sydney Trains' customers. Rail patronage on the T4 line grew by 17 per cent, meaning they were operating at or above capacity. The T4 line is the most crowded line on the rail network during the morning peak, with passenger loads averaging 144 per cent of seated capacity and 75 per cent of services operating above target capacity. Here we have a line that is flat-chat full.

Let me read you some of the correspondence I have had about this line. Starting in Cronulla, it is also the line at Sutherland, going all the way into the city. Here is an email to Transport NSW that I was copied in on by a constituent, and this is what Transport NSW had to say:

Thank you for your feedback regarding the internet and phone connectivity along the T4 line from Cronulla to Martin Place. I understand how important it is for many to have Wi-Fi access while travelling, and I am sorry for the frustration it may cause

As you can appreciate, Wi-Fi relies on mobile reception to provide a consistent connection. There are currently a number of blackspots along the Blue Mountains and South Coast lines.

Please also be advised that there are no immediate plans to introduce Wi-Fi on trains, however your feedback has been forwarded to our service planning area for future consideration.

For further enquiries about your cellular connectivity, it is best that you reach out directly to your service provider and ask what changes may be made in the area to their infrastructure.

We reached out to both Telstra and Vodafone, and here is what the constituent had to say to me in response to both this and their responses:

What a disappointing non-response; I really did expect to hear that someone in your organisation would care about the connectivity concerns and productivity of the customers of the T4 line—and would have plans to remediate the issue.

Please escalate this further up your management chain as a matter of high importance to your customers. I have copied in my local federal and state member so that they are aware of your response as I had previously asked the question of both of them.

I am sure we have all personally experienced what happens when a residential person calls a telco—

So the solution needs to be from government. The constituent goes on to say:

Hopefully there is a near future state where we can all work together to solve problems rather than ignore them—or put the work back onto the customer to drive a solution. As a suggestion, perhaps you can engage with the telcos yourself to apply pressure for the changes required; a regulatory solution on minimum standards could also be the answer.

Here is another email from a constituent who wrote to me about what it was like in Cronulla:

I am not sure if this is in your remit, however train passengers from Cronulla to Sutherland suffer phone and internet blackspots at Woolooware tunnel, Kirrawee station (complete lack of any connectivity) and, if they go further, the Jannali cutting and of course, the complete technology blackout underground from Sydenham.

That's before they leave home at Cronulla where calls go straight to voicemail and you can't get decent internet connection especially around 3pm in the afternoon.

Is there any pressure that can be put on providers to upgrade their technology to a first world offering? Any support or suggestions you can provide would be appreciated.

Here is another one in Kirrawee:

I raised my concerns about the phone reception at my home.

…   …   …

I moved to a villa in May 2022 and immediately noticed that I had very limited mobile service with Telstra. One bar if I am lucky.

I raised my concerns with Telstra and the ombudsman, with no remedy unless I want to install an expensive antenna, as it is a strata complex this would be extra difficult to get approval for.

I had to upgrade my mobile phone to one that I could get calls through WI FI. This has solved the problem as long as there is no outage with the NBN or power. I work at home 3 days a week, when there is a power outage I am completely cut off from my colleagues.

A number of my neighbours are elderly and they are very concerned that in an emergency, it could be difficult to call someone.

This is a line in an area with over 400,000 passengers per day. Think about the lost productivity of these people. Even worse, it's a train line. Let's think about this from a safety perspective. It's in the middle of Sydney. How can Telstra, Vodafone and the other providers allow this to happen in Australia's largest city? It's meant to be one of the premier cities in the world, and we have a black spot for one of our busiest train lines in the country. This has to stop.

We've written to Telstra and we've written to Vodafone, and I will keep fighting for my constituents. We will not stop until we get services on this T4 line and we fix the black spots in Kirrawee and Miranda. I also have constituents in Lilli Pilli, where it faces the national park, writing to me. This is a high bushfire danger zone in Sydney where they don't have mobile phone reception. This area has been subject to bushfires in the past. We have residents there who have completely no phone reception. Again, I have written to Telstra, and Telstra has been found wanting, so it's time for government to step up.

My message is to both Telstra and the Labor government. Telstra, you must fix these black spots. We will not stop until you fix the black spots along the T4 line, around Kirrawee station, around Miranda station and down at Lilli Pilli near the national park. If you don't, I will fight for this Labor government to force you to fix these areas, because this isn't a fringe concern.

You can't tell me there's a cost-benefit analysis that doesn't make sense when up to 400,000 people are using that line. That's four times the size of Accor Stadium. They're on that train every single day. I hope it's fine and safe, but you shudder to think of what would happen if there were serious injuries or a serious incident there. It doesn't even have to be that. It could be someone experiencing a heart attack or heart difficulty. It could be some random occurrence. What could happen on these train lines where people are left flailing without assistance is limitless. This is a First World country, and it's the biggest city in the country. It's one of the premier cities in the world, and we don't have phone reception? It beggars belief.

I'm sick of the Sutherland Shire being screwed by governments—the Labor federal government, the Labor state government and the Labor aligned Sutherland Shire Council. We've had enough. We overshot our housing targets last term. The Sutherland Shire has increased the amount of housing. We're one of the few local councils that increases our housing targets. We're taking all these extra people, in part because of these reckless immigration policies. But we're getting screwed on the infrastructure while Western Sydney is getting train lines, metros, light rails, new schools and budgets.

I walk around my electorate. I go and visit all the schools. I'm watching kids using demountable toilets without toilet rolls. I can't find a primary school where they can fit the whole school in any of the halls. There are still school rooms without air conditioning in the Sutherland Shire. There's mould in some of these primary schools that I'm seeing. There are demountable buildings everywhere, and we're overshooting our housing targets. Why are we getting screwed on infrastructure? Why are we getting screwed with mobile phone black spots and insufficient school infrastructure? The roads are a disaster. They're building the M4 and stopping it before it hits the Sutherland Shire. It's got a sinkhole. They're not extending that. There are no new road upgrades.

I see Premier Minns is now looking at putting 4,300 apartments in Kurnell. It's got one road in and one road out—no public transport—and the phone reception there can be terrible. You drive to Kurnell, and you lose the signal every single time. This isn't some far-flung back heap of Australia. This is the place where the meeting of two cultures first occurred. It's where Captain Cook landed. This should be as important as the Opera House and as Bennelong and should be celebrated as much. We can't even get phone reception, and we just want to chuck in 4,300 apartments without any new infrastructure, new roads or new schools? They don't even plan to build a school. Well, Cronulla High School and Kurnell Public School have fallen demountables already. Where are these people going to go?

Stop screwing the Sutherland Shire. I've had enough of it. The citizens of the Sutherland Shire have had enough of it, and we're going to stand up. We can't have all of this development if we don't get the infrastructure. The Sutherland Shire has been overlooked for far too long. We've got a Labor federal government, a Labor state government and a Labor aligned council. We need these people to stick up. These should be bipartisan issues. I'm willing to work with them. I'm willing to put the partisan attacks away if we can see a plan. Let's start with fixing these mobile phone towers and black spots on one of the busiest lines in the busiest city in one of the best countries in the world. Let's fix them in Kirrawee, Miranda and Lilli Pilli, and let's invest in the infrastructure my people deserve.

If we look at the full bill itself, there are some good things. But we need to start thinking about the triple zero consequences and failure. This communications policy isn't theoretical. We've already seen what happens when people try to call triple zero and it doesn't connect. If you've got no phone reception, it can't connect. The recent history of triple zero is showing that newly emerging device compatibility issues have shaken public confidence in the system. Senate inquiries have exposed troubling governance and shortcomings and highlighted the gaps in oversight and governance. We had the tragic loss of two Australians following device incompatibility issues. This underscores the seriousness of communication failures. This is even more serious than device incompatibility. It doesn't matter if you have a device if you can't get access at all.

Australians can't afford another botched rollout, and people in the Sutherland shire can't either. We need assurances from this government that systems will be put in place that won't leave Australians with older handsets left behind and won't leave residents in the Sutherland shire behind. We're doing the heavy lifting on population. We met our targets. We're densifying. You can't find a park anywhere around Cronulla. You can't find a park anywhere around Sutherland shire hospital. We're doing the heavy lifting. We are the unsung heroes of Sydney. We don't complain. We don't kick up a fuss but we are sick of being taken for granted. I'm sick of receiving these emails and having nothing to show for it. I'm going to fight for the people in my electorate. I'm going to fight the federal Labor government, I'm going to fight the state Labor government and I'm going to fight the Labor aligned local council to see us get the infrastructure we deserve. It starts with mobile phone towers, but it doesn't end there; we'll look to schools, we'll look to roads and we'll look to parking.

We can't just keep having endless amounts of population growth with no infrastructure to show for it. Why is it that Western Sydney gets a metro? Why is it that Western Sydney gets light rail? Why is it that Western Sydney gets school after school? Why is it getting WestConnex? Where's 'SouthConnex'? Why are we cut off from the rest of the city? There might be passports on the bridge when you get down there. We might not always like everyone coming to visit, but I'll tell you what: we're building enough houses for them. And if we're building the houses for them, we should be getting the infrastructure for them too.

There is some structural reform in this bill, and structural reform of this scale warrants comprehensive parliamentary examination before it's locked into law. We want to make sure the definitions, the enforcement mechanisms, the spectrum allocation, the pricing implications and the device compatibility all get the detailed interrogation they deserve. Most importantly, we want to see how this will be physically delivered, developed, scrutinised and put into action—so we are calling for more scrutiny on this bill. Given the government's record on 3G and triple zero, due diligence on this isn't optional; it's essential.

The coalition has a proud track record on telecommunications. We've invested in regional connectivity and backing programs that deliver practical improvements on the ground, but we realise some of these issues have existed for a long time. So let's work together bipartisanly; I offer that, and I'm willing to do that in the Sutherland shire, but I need to see a plan for how we're going to give the people of the Sutherland shire the infrastructure they deserve. They're sick of being screwed over, and I'm sick of them being screwed over. I'm sick of these complaints and emails coming into my inbox and having nothing to show for it. Well, this stops now. We've got a petition to get the Sutherland shire the infrastructure they deserve, and I won't stop fighting until we deliver that outcome.

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