Angie Bell (Moncrieff, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It gives me great pleasure today to stand here in the Federation Chamber and talk about The next gen future: Inquiry into the deployment, adoption and application of 5G in Australia report. As a government member of the Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts, it gives me great pleasure to be here. Australia was among the first to get our hands on the next generation of mobile technology, with Telstra allowing public use of its 5G enabled wi-fi hotspots in my electorate of Moncrieff on the central Gold Coast. As a member in the pilot region for the rollout of 5G, I was pleased when, during the public hearings, the committee visited the Telstra 5G centre at Southport to witness and experience firsthand the benefits of 5G.

The major attribute of 5G is its latency capability. This means that there is no lag time between receiving the signal and the response from the technology it's being applied to. For example, I was able in that forum to show off my electorate to my colleagues by putting them in a mask that showed the iconic Kurrawa Surf Club at its best, complete with the breathtakingly beautiful Gold Coast coastline, the surg and the coffee shop—which is now open for business, can I just add. It was in 360 degrees and in full 3D. Kurrawa is one of the nine surf clubs in my electorate, and I would like to give a shout-out to them and thank them for the work that they do in the community. Also, Surfers Paradise surf club has undergone a renovation, and Trevor Hendy tells me that there are many programs that that club undertakes in the community. I digress, but I never miss an opportunity to sneak in a few comments about my community.

The committee experienced this 5G virtual reality tour. I talked about the first mask that was put on. We then put on another mask—and I see some of the committee member here today—and were instantly transformed into an elevator. We knew that our feet were firmly on concrete, but we were instantly transformed up to the 21st floor of a high-rise in Southport, where I could look over Southport, in the CBD of my electorate, and see the birds flying past and the cabs on the ground. There was actually a beam that came out of the lift that we were dared to walk on. This mask made it so real through 5G technology that the member for Chifley, the member for Lyne and I were a little bit frightened to actually walk out on the beam, because we felt that we were going to fall off the 21st floor and fall down to the bottom. There were a number of members who decided not to walk out on that beam; however, I was not one of those members of the committee—I did step out. I stepped off to the left of the beam, and I was instantly transformed to the ground floor. I opened my eyes and there I was back on the ground floor. It was very exciting, and it certainly opened my eyes—and my bravery—on that day to what 5G can deliver. It was a great day.

At the hearings on the Gold Coast we heard from many of my constituents on the Gold Coast, but we also heard from constituents in Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney. We also heard from Vodafone UK, who conducted the UK's very first live holographic call using 5G technology. The low latency and high speeds of 5G actually made it possible to produce a 3D holograph of someone who was more than 330 kilometres away. This technology could transform very many areas. It could transform the way that families stay in touch or the remote working experience. These things that I am talking about might seem like a novelty, but this technology could be applied to areas like education, health, sport, industry and many other areas. As a member of the Standing Committee on Employment, Education and Training, I was very excited to think about how this technology could be applied to rural and remote education and benefit, particularly, Indigenous communities around our great country. That's what really excites me.

The other thing that really excites me is jobs and how 5G could transform our economy into jobs. It not only has the capability to revolutionise those remote education outcomes but also has the ability to transform health, small business, industry, manufacturing, road safety, sport and the environment. But, most importantly, as I said, it has a role to play when it comes to creating Australian jobs, and those jobs of the future that we hear people talking about. And what are those jobs of the future? Well, 5G will create those jobs of the future through the technology, which is very, very exciting. It's going to revolutionise the way we do things in Australia. Indeed, we have an opportunity to be a world leader, to be a centre of 5G equipment component manufacturing. We've heard a lot about Australian manufacturers having a bit of a rebirth, and 5G is a great opportunity for our great country to go into the manufacturing of componentry for 5G technology. So there are definitely opportunities for start-ups to develop their ideas and to connect our nation through 5G.

Several organisations told the committee that 5G is essential if we're to be a global competitor in food and wine production, entertainment, automated vehicles and IT. You might ask how in food and wine production. It is all to do with the sensors and how 5G can pick up how much moisture is in the room and those sorts of things. It can automatically change the humidity in an environment, through its innovation and technology. That's very, very exciting.

5G builds on current 4G technology, which of course was built on 3G and 2G. As the title of the report says, it's the next gen future. But it does several things differently, from the radio waves to the equipment, handsets, infrastructure, and application. It will use multiple spectrum bands of radio waves, including bands in a higher frequency to those used for older generations of mobile phone technology. The different way of using spectrum bands means that new equipment and infrastructure are needed to transmit information using these radio waves.

Unfortunately, a vast amount of misinformation about the safety and impacts of 5G is out there in the community. The committee received a large amount of information from inquiry participants who were concerned over the deployment of 5G and asserted that 5G would have a detrimental impact on human health. I do, as did the chair and the committee, acknowledge their concerns and thank them for their contributions to the hearings and for their submissions. But I would like to make one thing very clear, and that is that the committee heard from several Australian government agencies and officials that 5G is in fact safe for humans. Due to the technological qualities of 5G, beam forming and network slicing and the multiple output technology involved in 5G, the amount of energy that is received is lower than 4G, which is lower than 3G, and it is safe. You get more exposure from a baby monitor or a microwave than you would from 5G technology. These concerns in the community have been influenced by misinformation about the technology. The technology is safe. I urge the public to be cautious of claims from anti-5G campaigns. These campaigns are generating unfounded fear and concern within the community.

The committee made 14 recommendations. I won't go through all of them, but they include, importantly, the speedy allocation of spectrum needed for 5G, which will improve market competition.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives

Sitting suspended from 17 : 00 to 17 : 09

Before the suspension, I was speaking about the committee's recommendations, which include the installation of multi-user infrastructure and conducting of 5G trials in rural and regional areas; the Australian government to encourage manufacturing of 5G infrastructure in Australia with potential partnerships with the United Kingdom, United States of America, New Zealand and Canada; the establishment of a 5G R&D innovation fund; better consultation between Australian government agencies and members of the community concerned about the deployment of 5G; and a focus on ensuring the ICT workforce is expanded and appropriately skilled by lifting apprenticeships and working with curriculum setters. So there are the jobs, jobs, jobs that I was speaking about earlier. 5G technology enables enhanced mobile broadband features like digital video streaming and browsing the internet and pages super quickly. But, in summary, there are huge productivity gains across the whole of the Australian economy that can be realised. 5G could have a very significant role in the reinvention of Australia's next generation post-COVID economy, in terms of innovation applied to business models in order to improve our domestic and international competitiveness and the future of our great, great country.

Patrick Gorman (Perth, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd like to start by thanking the secretariat of the Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts for their work on this report, The next gen future: Inquiry into the deployment, adoption and application of 5G in Australia, and thanking the chair and the deputy chair of the committee for their work. It was a good, collaborative exercise where we ventured to some interesting places. I didn't make it to the Gold Coast—a lovely place, and I was very sad to missed it—but I did make it to the Ericsson offices in Melbourne where, again, very quickly, the goggles were out and we all put on our favourite hi-tech fashion accessory. I would also like to thank the 537 people who submitted to this inquiry. It's fair to say that this topic of 5G technology raises very strong passions and the possibilities of this technology also really excites people. We held six public hearings and addressed time and time again the concerns that some people have about the health impacts of this technology. When it comes to health related issues, the science is incredibly clear. As we have just been through and continue to deal with the coronavirus pandemic and we have accepted the advice of science and health experts, we must maintain that discipline and accept the advice of science and health experts when it comes to the rollout of technology. So I'm very comfortable in saying that 5G technology is safe for our communities and for our country.

But that is not to say that we can't do more in terms of improving the way we communicate this, because, when people have anxieties about technologies being rolled out, those anxieties are real. I think this committee process was a good way to allow people to raise their concerns, but I'd also say to anyone who has lingering questions—because of some crazy Facebook meme they have seen—to read the first couple of chapters of this report. It condenses the science and the advice of the Australian government experts and scientific experts very well in saying how this technology is safe and how it can be rolled out safely across our country.

It is important that we have good mobile telecommunications services across this country. There are some 34 million mobile devices connected to mobile networks in Australia today, and that number is only going to increase. That is 1. 4 devices per person. And, as I look around this room, I notice that most people have multiple devices connected currently to probably 4G networks or wi-fi. But hopefully soon, as we address the challenges in this building of ageing infrastructure—which this report touches on—we will also have 5G rolled out in this building. Some 80 per cent of that mobile traffic occurs indoors, which, for this technology using smaller shorter waves, is a particular challenge. It requires more hardware but smaller hardware to be rolled out across our communities, and I have a great concern that that rollout may be patchy and may lead to a new digital divide. Some of the recommendations in this report address how you can ensure that you don't have such a digital divide in the future. We have seen the challenges of rolling out large-scale infrastructure projects in Australia. Indeed, I note that one day soon the NBN is due for practical completion. The reality is that the rollout of 5G technology will need to be much quicker than we have seen with the rollout of other such technologies.

I will address some of the specifics in the report. The first recommendation is about how we actually improve the process through which we auction spectrum. Those auctions are primarily done in the interests of the government, in terms of creating revenue, but one of the recommendations the committee has made is that it should also be about improving market competition for the benefit of consumers, because ultimately they are the users of that spectrum—both business consumers and individual consumers across our country. This goes to the member for Moncrieff's point about making sure this technology best delivers on expanding the range of job opportunities for people—the types of jobs that are available anywhere in Australia.

The second recommendation is something that I think is very worth the government taking fast action on, which is how to manage redundant infrastructure in Australia. Whenever you roll out new infrastructure, it obviously also means that there are pieces of infrastructure that become redundant. If you think about the infrastructure that people have campaigned against at times in their communities—people have the right to do that; I've never signed such a petition, but people have the right to campaign against such things—we will get to a point where people won't necessarily know whether the old mobile communications infrastructure in their communities is, in fact, still operating. Sometimes it's cheaper for telecommunications companies not to remove the infrastructure and just leave it there. Therefore, we've recommended there should be action taken to make sure that there are proper processes for managing redundant and/or ageing telecommunications equipment. Similarly, for new equipment, we should do more with co-location. We talk about co-location in a lot of other areas. There's no reason we can't do more when it comes to co-location of 5G infrastructure and infrastructure-sharing.

One of the things that excites me most—and I'm sure it excites you, Deputy Speaker Rick Wilson—is the idea that the committee heard about from WA farmers: a large-scale trial within a farming region. I note that one of the most innovative farming regions in Australia is in your electorate, Deputy Speaker. Indeed, the WA farmers suggested that Esperance would be a good location for such a trial. I'm pleased that the committee has noted that recommendation. The other place that was suggested by WA farmers was Margaret River. The member speaking earlier said there are applications of this technology and the production of high-quality, high-value exportable products, such as wine. Indeed, if you were to roll out this technology in the Margaret River as an early-stage trial, coordinating with government and carriers, that could be a very good thing.

The other challenge we have, and we've seen this most recently with challenges in our supply chain for personal protective equipment, is that we are not immune from supply chain shocks when it comes to high-tech infrastructure in this country. Indeed, practically nothing we use to build these networks is made here in Australia. Recommendation 8 is for the government to investigate ways to look at encouraging manufacturers of some parts of this infrastructure here in Australia. That would be very welcomed. To roll out the technology wherever it is produced, we also need to make sure we invest in training. One of the committee's recommendations is that we should ensure that graduates are industry-ready and make sure that we talk to TAFE, universities and, indeed, to our high schools to make sure that there is enough training and enough apprenticeships to be able to roll this out. We've seen in the past that rolling out large-scale government infrastructure programs can be a challenge if there are not appropriately trained people. We know that this technology will have huge economic benefits for our country and, therefore, we should make sure that we line up with TAFE, vocational education and training institutions, and the private sector to make sure we have the skills necessary.

We spoke to a range of local governments. There were some very interesting comments from them in terms of how they might deploy this. Since we did this inquiry, I've seen a smart bin. There is one in my electorate. There is a smart bin in Elizabeth Quay, in the electorate of Perth. I would never have noticed the smart bin if I had not done this inquiry. Local councils talked to us about smart bins and other things. However, we noted that there's a gap in knowledge in many levels of our community services and, in particular, in local government, so further education and increasing awareness of the benefits of 5G technology within local government would be of benefit.

The final point I'll make is that we need to make sure that the information that is provided by government departments on this technology is received by those who need to receive it and that they communicate through appropriate channels. That might be more through social media than through traditional media. I applaud the government's further investment in such communication efforts, but we've got to make sure we're constantly monitoring and evaluating that communication effort, because it is clear there is misinformation out there and, if not addressed through an effective government communication campaign, we will have failed to fully realise the benefits of this technology.

Katie Allen (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We all know we live in a fast-paced and informational age, and that's never been more obvious than in the COVID pandemic that we're currently living through. Ensuring that Australia has world-leading telecommunications infrastructure is one of the Morrison government's top economic priorities, because the forthcoming roll-out of the 5G network is going to be very important to underpin our prosperity and economic opportunities going forward. I am very pleased to be a member of the Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts, which recently handed down the report on the inquiry into 5G, The Next Gen Future. It is very timely for us to look at this particular issue. The importance of telecommunications infrastructure cannot be stressed enough. In fact, the implementation of the NBN, which is on track to be completed this month, in 2020, has already seen a huge contribution to our GDP. It has created up to 5,400 new businesses and supported 2,900 new jobs. These figures are only climbing.

I'm also delighted to be a government member of the Joint Standing Committee on the NBN. It has been a very interesting time for me, sitting on both of these interrelated committees. Australians need fast and reliable internet now more than ever as they continue to work at home and learn online. I think this is particularly important. I was recently hosting a Zoom conference with members of my constituency, and the guest speaker was none other than Professor Ian Harper, who is a world-renowned economist. He was asked what he thought the future held with regards to what we would learn post COVID. One of the things he said is we would learn to work more from home. I did make the comment that perhaps men would learn to work more from home, since I think there are many women who have been working in a flexible environment using the internet over the last 20 years. Women have been early uptake users of communications and using these sorts of technologies from home so that they can have a flexible work-life balance and manage the many commitments that they do have.

My constituents have told me how they have taught their parents and grandparents to use FaceTime. I myself made a little video for my Facebook so that we could get more constituents using FaceTime and getting online so they can communicate with their families while in isolation. We have seen businesses using online learning and online communication. In my office we have been using Skype and Zoom to communicate more broadly with my electorate. So it's been a very interesting time during COVID, but it does really bring to the fore the fact that the internet is the future.

The government has achieved so much in the past six years with regards to telecommunications, and the introduction of 5G continues to build on this important trend. In order to maintain Australia's current leading position in the global system for mobile communications connectivity index score and to facilitate future economic prosperity, Australia is welcoming the 5G network rollout. There are many benefits of this. As I mentioned, the report that has been just been handed down is called The next gen future: Inquiry into the deployment, adoption and application of 5G in Australia, and it really has affirmed to me personally, and also to the committee, the benefits of 5G. I welcome the comments made by my good friend the member for Moncrieff earlier in this debate, where she explained how she saw the wonders of the internet going forward, the internet of things. I have to say I'm quite jealous of that visit; I was home in Higgins and unable to participate in the visit. But it was very clear that the new technologies that are coming at us at speed are not just the domain of sci-fi; they're now here with us and they're going to change the way that we do business, the way we connect with families, the way we connect with the globe at lightning speed. I'd like to acknowledge the member for Lyne, the chair of the committee, and the work he did in helping to hand down the report, and all the other committee members who were very diligent in their assessment of the inquiry and the submissions that were made to this inquiry.

Australia, along with the rest of the world, is really on the brink of experiencing what we dub now the fourth industrial revolution, or the digital revolution. I often like to say that the paint is not yet dry on the digital revolution. In fact, I believe that we have gone through a massive social revolution as a result of us now being able to work and play in a very different way. There's been a sixfold increase of data downloaded onto mobile handsets in the four years leading up to 2018, which is evidence of the immense changes that we are going through as we experience the internet of things going forward. It's very important that Australia is alive to the opportunities that this provides. These circumstances really do necessitate an upgrade from our current 4G infrastructure to the proposed 5G.

5G technology promises great capacity and faster data speeds and significantly lower signal latency and delay, and it will support a larger number of devices in a given area. This will be absolutely critical for digitally reliant industries to be productive and competitive in a global market. The committee has heard that the 5G rollout will allow solutions to some of our most compelling challenges at the global and national level. It has predicted that 5G technology will also be hugely beneficial to those in regional and remote Australia. I know myself, as a medical practitioner, with the use of telehealth to prevent patients from having to travel for many hours to get to my clinic, I could actually do a lot of my care across the internet line through telehealth. We know that those strong connections will be incredibly important.

So the committee made a number of recommendations. In fact, it made 14 wide-ranging and productive recommendations, a handful of which I'll consider today. Importantly, it noted that we need to be aware of the issues of manufacturing, and that has been an issue that has been very much in the front mind of the Morrison government in our post-COVID plan for the future. We understand that we need to be alive to the opportunities for manufacturing, and manufacturing of 5G infrastructure in Australia in particular. This includes advanced manufacturing for components and equipment used for the rollout of the 5G networks. This could be supported through the establishment of a 5G R&D fund to fast-track development. It could also involve manufacturing partnerships with countries like Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. I note here is the chair for the Committee on Treaties, and I'm sure he will have an important role to play in ensuring we have a strong relationship with regards to advanced manufacturing in our treaties relationship with other countries. This will also enable our 5G rollout not just to have domestic benefits but to also have international benefits. So in this way, the 5G network could help support a more diversified economy, which we know will be incredibly important in our post-COVID environment.

The Next gen report also found that we should be reviewing ICT curricula for roles in 5G related industries. TAFE, accredited training providers and tertiary institutions should be modified also to ensure graduates are industry ready. Something we have noticed in particular moving forward is that we need our students and our youth to be ready for the future, and we need them to be skilled and trained for the new jobs that are coming online at speed. In particular, the committee recommends that the government lift apprenticeships in the ICT sector. These are jobs for the future which the rollout of the 5G network will support both directly and indirectly.

The committee also noted that there were concerns about network and data security of 5G equipment and that there are cyberthreats that are sophisticated and constantly evolving. Australia has a strong track record of data protection, but we must continue to strive for this to be robust.

We also noted that there were concerns from the community about the perceived health threats from 5G, and I'd like to reassure the community, after having reviewed all of the submissions, that the committee felt very strongly that the threats that people perceived were a problem are not indeed a problem. That is because the intended frequency of the 5G network will stay well below any harmful radiation—in fact, it is lower than visible light. It appears that most of the confusion that has resulted is from misinformation and a lack of awareness about the 5G infrastructure. The committee does recommend that a public health information campaign would be a very important component of ensuring that 5G is well recognised by the community and can be safely rolled out. There needs to be education and awareness to ensure that, indeed, the community members that are confused or misinformed have their fears dispelled by a careful campaign to understand the information that it is actually a safe thing to do.

In conclusion, I'd like to say that the technological progress for Australia is really on an irreversible trajectory and Australia cannot be left behind. We need to be ready for the digital revolution that is upon us and we need to ensure that we can seize new ideas an innovations. Importantly, it will help from the bedrock of Australia's economic prosperity.

Debate adjourned.