Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to make a contribution to the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Competition and Consumer Safeguards) Bill 2010 during the committee stage of the bill. If the Liberal and National parties are serious about improving competition in the telecommunications market and delivering better services for their constituents, they need to support this legislation. Every day of delay for these reforms is another day of higher prices, less choice and fewer innovative services for consumers and small businesses, especially those in regional Australia. This bill is an important micro-economic reform that will revolutionise the communications market for Australian consumers. It will set the stage for greater competition and productivity.

We heard from Senator Birmingham a lot of detail about the NBN and the reasons for their not supporting this legislation, but his contribution was largely not about this legislation at all. The Liberal Party continue to link the NBN to this piece of legislation only for their own political reasons, only to do what Mr Abbott has asked them to do—that is, to demolish the NBN. Senator Joyce publicly confirmed that that is their job. They have confirmed that they believe that the NBN is the reason that we are in government—Senator Joyce has said that. The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy has said numerous times that the NBN Co. has provided a three-year corporate plan and a 30-year-business plan. As the minister said, the company submitted the plan on 8 November 2010 and the government is committed to releasing as much information as possible from the business plan. He also said that we will release the business plan in December.

This legislation will make significant amendments to the Telecommunications Act 1997, the Trade Practices Act 1974 and the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999. In this legislation we have before us the opportunity to implement a substantive regulatory reform package that will deliver a more efficient and effective telecommunications market with better and more appropriate consumer safeguards for Australian consumers. This bill reshapes the framework for Telstra to progress its decisions, including to separate, to allow Telstra to seek approval from its shareholders to migrate fixed line customers to the NBN. This bill will streamline our telecommunications sector and strengthen consumer safeguards to ensure service standards are maintained at a high level.

Overwhelmingly the majority of industry supports this legislative reform package. It is time to take action to address the longstanding problems with the existing telecommunications regime. For too long we have endured poor services at high prices and have faced numerous access disputes. It follows quite simply that passing these reforms is a key priority for this government, consumers, businesses and the broader economy. There seems to be genuine support for the separation of Telstra and I believe even those opposite cannot dispute the consumer benefits and enhanced safeguards.

Whilst those opposite continue to grandstand about the government’s expenditure on the National Broadband Network, they are stalling and thwarting any legislative progress before the end year for their own political ends regardless of the damage their tactics will have for consumers and businesses. Those opposite are denying consumer access to the safeguards that they deserve, they are causing greater uncertainty for Telstra shareholders and they are delaying much-needed reforms to the telecommunications sector. Their only aim is to stop us moving forward and to stop the Gillard government from progressing our legislative agenda.

These amendments provide the opportunity to overcome the vertically integrated, privately owned monopoly that Telstra enjoys in the Australian telecommunications industry. We have before us a package of fundamental reforms to existing telecommunications regulations in an attempt to rectify the anticompetitive nature of the industry. We are determined to address the mistakes of the past and to establish an effective and efficient regulatory framework for telecommunications.

The way forward that we have proposed is a mix of strong measures to open up the sector alongside the appropriate safeguards and incentives for consumers. This bill will reshape regulations for the telecommunications sector and will allow us to deliver better and fairer outcomes for Australian consumers and businesses. These reforms will allow the sector to smoothly transition to the NBN, they will increase competition and they will improve consumer safeguards. I hope that those opposite will have a change of heart and do the right thing for Australians and the Australian economy by voting in support of this legislation.

This bill will provide more legislative and regulatory certainty for Telstra and its shareholders as it transitions into a retail company. Through these reforms it is possible to create a win-win situation for Telstra, its shareholders and Australian consumers and businesses. These legislative changes will deliver much needed benefits for consumers while simultaneously protecting consumer interests. By addressing Telstra’s integration across the fixed line, copper, cable and mobile platforms and by delivering a structural separation of Telstra, consumers stand to benefit from increased competition across the sector. With the NBN Co. as a wholesale-only telecommunications provider with open access arrangements, the rollout of the NBN is already reshaping the competitive dynamics of the communications sector. Competition will only increase with the ongoing rollout of the NBN and with the separation of Telstra.

The industry has been calling for fundamental and historic microeconomic reform in telecommunications, and we are delivering this outcome in Australia’s long-term national interest. This bill will address the longstanding deficiencies in the regulation of the sector and it will also drive growth and productivity, regional development, social equity and innovation. We will have proper regulation of the wholesale company and we will have proper scrutiny from the ACCC.

This legislation has been informed by the discussion paper on telecommunications reform which was released on the same day as the announcement of the National Broadband Network in April 2009. The 140 submissions to the discussion paper included all major telecommunications service providers, broadcasters, media companies, state and territory governments, the ACCC, disability and consumer groups, business organisations and unions. Their response was clear: across all of the submissions unanimous feedback, as we have heard in this chamber, was that the telecommunications industry is uncompetitive, it does not assist consumers and it does not assist businesses.

We have initiated fundamental reform to the telecommunications industry to address the high level of vertical integration amongst both Telstra’s wholesale and retail services. These changes come alongside the rollout of the NBN, one of the largest infrastructure nation-building projects of our time, a project which will drive Australia’s future productivity and growth. We must have the appropriate telecommunications regulation in place to ensure that the NBN is affordable and able to deliver high-quality services to businesses and consumers. The proposed changes to the telecommunications regulations have been praised by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the ACCC, and the Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, has himself said that the public is best served by having a competitive telecommunications sector.

This legislation has widespread support across the telecommunications sector. We know that. We know that the 10 major industry groups that include the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, the Competitive Carriers Coalition, iiNet, Internode, Macquarie Telecom, Netspace Networks, Primus Telecom, TransACT Communications, Vodafone Hutchison Australia and the Australian Telecommunications Users Group plead the case for passing this bill with signatories arguing that we need these comprehensive and coherent reforms to improve competition and consumer protection in Australia. These groups also emphasise the need to deliver these reforms for consumers in regional Australia.

Australian consumers and businesses are calling out for reform, and it is frustrating that those opposite continue to oppose changes that are clearly in the best interests of the telecommunications sector and that are in the broader national interest. Through this legislation we are also making changes to consumer safeguards and protecting consumer access to affordable telecommunications services, because we know that for too long consumers have suffered as a result of regulatory gaming and litigious obstruction. We have endured 164 telecommunications access disputes since the commencement of the regime. Compared with other utility sectors there is a disproportionate amount in the telecommunications sector given that there have only been four access disputes across other regulated utility sectors.

This legislation sets up a more level playing field for consumers in the future. The ACCC will set the terms for access into the future, and this bill removes the right to seek the merits review of the ACCC’s decisions. The legislation retains and strengthens the universal service obligation, the USO. Telstra has the universal service provider as the universal service provider. That therefore must ensure all Australians have reasonable access on an equitable basis to standard telephone services, including payphones. The consumer service guarantee, CSG, will be bolstered through minimum performance benchmarks to require telephone companies to meet or exceed the CSG requirements. If the standards are not being met, those companies will incur civil penalties. There will be an additional priority assistance requirement for telephone companies. Through enhancing the powers of the Australian Communications and Media Authority to issue infringement notices, we will also have a more effective enforcement of our enhanced consumer safeguards.

We cannot let those opposite deny Australians better broadband and telecommunication services for their own political advantage. We know—we have heard it in the chamber before—that at the Melbourne communications conference Mr Turnbull, the shadow minister, said that if vertical integration was the problem structural functional separation of Telstra is the answer. We must now ask how, in spite of their own shadow minister’s comments, those opposite still will not support this legislation. Using the NBN as the only reason to object to a bill which breaks down the telecommunications monopoly is just another example of the delaying tactics of those opposite. We need to act now and deliver fundamental reform to the telecommunications industry, reform which will benefit both consumers and businesses in the future. These are substantive stand-alone reforms to the telecommunications industry. Nothing in this legislation concerns the NBN other than the agreement between NBN Co. and Telstra. The telecommunications reforms have nothing to do with the cost-benefit analysis of the NBN. The opposition know this and they are linking this bill with the NBN for their own advantage.

The Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Competition and Consumer Safeguards) Bill provides a framework for the migration of customer services from Telstra’s network to the NBN. This is the means by which the structural operation of Telstra may be achieved. This bill is not about the operations, structure or the ongoing processes of the NBN. It is about streamlining our telecommunications sector and strengthening consumer safeguards. It is about delivering better and fairer outcomes for Australian consumers and businesses in our broader community. The opposition need to be honest about the reason they are opposing this bill. This bill is not about the NBN; it is all about the opposition’s strategy to delay, wreck and demolish—on the orders of their leader, Mr Abbott. We know and they know this bill is about competition and consumer safeguards— (Time expired)