David Gillespie (Lyne, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to highlight all the amazing things that the Morrison coalition government has been doing to promote cybersafety and cybersecurity and to make the internet a much safer place for business, individuals and children. The number of initiatives is extensive. In fact, we're a world leader in this space. In 2015 we announced the creation of the eSafety Commissioner. As you can understand, in the modern digital era connectivity is critical, but it comes with problems. We have committed $100 million to support online safety initiatives. We have given the commissioner reporting and take-down mechanisms to address cyberbullying and the streaming of abhorrent, violent or extremist material. We have the Online Safety Grants Program, including training for parents and guardians of children. We also have a funding program to facilitate online safety learnings for elderly Australians, who can be taken in with so much internet fraud.

Digital connectivity is a standard by which countries are judged. We have rolled out the NBN six to eight years sooner than was originally planned by the opposition. We have got over 10.5 million houses that can be connected and over 6.5 million houses and businesses already connected. We have been doing things for our Asia-Pacific neighbours. We have put through a cable to connect the Pacific islands to the internet.

It's a pleasure to see the latest mobile phone technology, 5G, being rolled out in the country. At the moment we're doing an inquiry into all the amazing possibilities that 5G delivers. One remembers the step increase in the capability of mobile devices when we moved from 3G to 4G, but the expansion into the 5G space, with smaller frequency and lower levels of energy, will deliver a massive increase in the capability to deliver extra data at extra high speeds and very low latency. That means you won't be on your phone waiting for the next page to pop up. Some people haven't been able to get an NBN connection, and 5G connections in the almost 50 places where it has been rolled out are delivering competitive speeds to the NBN.

It also enables the Internet of Things, the connection of machines to other machines; autonomous driving; high-performance computing; cloud based computing; big data analytics; use of artificial intelligence; and faster blockchain technology. Australia is at the forefront of all of these things. We're also at the forefront of researching and developing quantum computing. There is large government backing of quantum computing across many universities.

As I mentioned, the Coral Sea undersea cable is a way of us helping our Pacific neighbours be connected to the digital world. Just like the digital world can let internet businesses thrive in regional and remote Australia, the capability and the economic boost to our Pacific neighbours will also make the internet a winner for them for tourism, for marketing and for all of the benefits of high-speed internet and commercial activities that come from that.

There is another problem. We have huge market power in the digital platforms. As a world leader, the Australian Morrison government initiated the digital platforms review by the ACCC. The whole world has been looking at what we are recommending the giants of the internet do to give everyone free— (Time expired)