Ursula Stephens (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Science and Water) Share this | Hansard source

I would also like to make some comments about the answers from the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts relating to payphones. I think that if those people who are listening to this broadcast heard Senator Eggleston’s contribution they might possibly be reassured—until they heard what is really happening. Where Senator Eggleston reassured people that, under the universal service obligation, Telstra is required to take into account the response of parliamentarians, community groups and individual members of the public, we have heard quite clearly from the community of Dysart. The mayor of Dysart, Cedric Marshall, said yesterday, as quoted in today’s Courier Mail, that Dysart would be left with insufficient payphones. That is a small community that is losing six payphones. Councillor Marshall also said:

We wrote to Telstra to make the point that we did not want them taken out of Dysart.

But that had no effect. I think that, while Senator Eggleston is being a bit disingenuous about the rhetoric of consultation, we know that that is not really what is going on and that there are communities that are losing their telephones for no good reason other than the important reason that was quoted to me in a letter from Mr Ian Peters, the Area General Manager Capital South East Region of Telstra Country Wide, when he said:

The cost of operating a payphone has continued to rise, resulting in over 50 per cent of Telstra’s payphones now losing money at a cost of approximately $30 million a year to our shareholders.

This is really about keeping Telstra shareholders happy so that we can maintain a high price for the T3 shares, and just abandoning the concerns of country people.

I live in a rural community and travel around regional New South Wales, and in the last six months I have discovered—and I am sure that there are others who would support this observation—that not only are things pretty difficult with Telstra and Telstra coverage but my mobile coverage in rural New South Wales is getting worse and worse. That is obviously a concern for people like Senator Nash, as well, because today she has lodged a petition from 441 petitioners asking for the Senate to take action to ensure that necessary funding is provided for the construction and erection of a mobile telephone reception tower in the district of Gooloogong in New South Wales.

It is not easy to look after regional electorates. It is certainly not easy to maintain a business if you are living in a regional community and it certainly does not help when every part of the telecommunications system seems to be under attack. The idea that there is some kind of potential for competition in regional communities—small communities, where there is a very thin telecommunications market—really does not stack up in the longer term. We know that payphones are an important part of the cultural life and cultural infrastructure of small communities, and we understand and acknowledge that Telstra’s plan to slash 5,000 of its 32,000 payphones in country towns and cities over the next seven months will have a dramatic effect on the lives of families continuing to struggle under this government.

An example is Jindabyne. Jindabyne is in an extraordinary situation. There is a massive influx of visitors and tourists during the ski season and there is a very real need for additional telephone services. They are being severely hit in this raft of cuts by Telstra. That is the kind of community that will see a significant impact from this really short-sighted policy. I suggest we need to look very clearly at Telstra’s obligations under the universal service obligation to ensure that payphones are maintained where they are required.