Brett Mason (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Coonan. Will the minister inform the Senate about the growing availability of third generation technology? Is the minister aware of any alternative policies?

Helen Coonan (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Mason for his question and for his ongoing interest in the rollout of advanced telecommunications services to all Australians. Improved mobile phone coverage and increased access to broadband are important telecommunication issues for Australian consumers, particularly for those living in rural and regional Australia. That is why I was very pleased to welcome the ahead-of-schedule launch of Telstra’s national $1 billion Next G network last week. The network will provide improved voice and broadband services to around 98 per cent of the Australian population.

According to Telstra, the Next Generation network is expected to deliver peak broadband speeds of up to 3.6 megabits, which will increase to 14.4 megabits next year. Importantly, Telstra estimates that the network could deliver up to 40 megabits by 2009. Any investment that can increase both the speed and the availability of choice of broadband to Australians is indeed welcome.

With Hutchison, Optus and Vodafone having launched or about to launch 3G mobile networks, Australians will be able to choose between a rich mix of services and applications. This is competitive telecommunications at work in Australia. The productivity benefits for business and the improvement of consumers’ ability to access both entertainment and information services that will flow from these networks are indeed very welcome.

Telstra’s Next G will replace the well-known and much valued regional CDMA network. Whilst the network upgrade is welcome, the government will ensure that during the transition to Next G there will be no deterioration in service to rural and regional Australia. To that end I have sought and obtained an assurance from Telstra that rural and regional areas will enjoy the same, or indeed improved, coverage and services after the switch-over. I have also asked the Australian Communications and Media Authority to undertake independent audits of both the existing CDMA and the Next Generation networks. Investments in Next G are a very welcome addition to the telecommunications landscape in Australia and will complement the $1.1 billion Connect Australia investment package to ensure that more Australians can access affordable broadband and mobile phone services.

I am asked whether there are any alternative policies. I say, ‘Yes, I think there’s a plethora of them.’ Senator Conroy called for a broadband of 10 megabits per second faster, calling any less ‘fraud band’. Then Mr Beazley came out with a plan for a broadband of six megabits per second. It is no wonder that Senator Conroy pretty quickly revised his ‘fraud band’. Then there was Labor’s grand plan to deliver fibre, except it was based on Telstra’s fibre-to-the-node proposal, together with robbing the Communications Fund and Broadband Connect of a couple of billion dollars in order to deliver a program that was unobtainable. We are yet to hear about how Labor will plug every Australian into the world and make every book available online.

Labor are hopelessly confused on telecommunications policy. We know that they are unable to appreciate the way in which new technology has simply moved on—whether it is in media or in telecommunications—whereas the government are getting on with the hard work of improving Australia’s telecommunications industry through today’s launch of the T3 share offer. (Time expired)

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Coonan, representing Senator Minchin, the Minister for Finance and Administration. I refer the minister to the T3 prospectus released today to the ASX and, in particular, to the section concerning the appointment of Mr Geoff Cousins, which states:

Telstra believes that if there is a risk Mr Cousins cannot be considered an independent director that this could prove disruptive to the smooth and effective functioning of the Board.

And that:

The Board is concerned that there is a risk that Mr Cousins’ previous consulting role with the Government could interfere with his capacity to be considered an independent director.

Don’t these scathing comments demonstrate the petulance and arrogance of the Howard government’s nomination of Mr Cousins?

Helen Coonan (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Conroy for the question. Of course it is well known that the Australian government has nominated Mr Geoff Cousins to be a director of the Telstra board. In case it has escaped anyone’s attention, the Australian government is the majority shareholder. Shareholders appoint board members and, as the major shareholder, the government is entitled to do so. There is certainly nothing wrong with a majority shareholder nominating a director. In fact, it is an accepted corporate governance practice in Australia and overseas.

Telstra itself has appointed Mr Bruce Akhurst, Mr David Moffatt, Mr Greg Winn and Mr Gerry Sutton as directors of Foxtel, using its position as a 50 per cent holder of shares in the pay TV company, so to nominate one director on Telstra hardly seems out of course. It is certainly not a stack of the board as some have suggested. The government could have appointed up to five directors, as the Telstra act provides for a maximum number of board members of 13. Instead, the government has elected to appoint only one.

Mr Cousins has exemplary qualifications to undertake the job of director, and no-one could seriously suggest otherwise. He has a very strong business background, with considerable experience in marketing, advertising and telecommunications. For 20 years, he was a senior executive with what was then Australia’s most powerful advertising agency, George Pattersons. He has been a director of PBL and the Seven Network, and he is currently a director of the Insurance Australia Group and the Cure Cancer Australia Foundation. Like all other directors, Mr Cousins will have fiduciary duties to act in the interests of all shareholders. Mr Cousins will, in the judgement of the government, make a valuable, independent contribution to the board. He has duties to the company and will add to its depth through his extensive Australian telecommunications and corporate experience. Shareholders will have an opportunity to have their say on Mr Cousins at the AGM, and that is appropriate.

It is very interesting, when you look at it, if this is the best that Labor can do in trying to criticise the sale of Telstra. The government had a perfect right to nominate Mr Cousins. What is the serious complaint that Labor make about Mr Cousins? If they have one, they should put up or shut up. Mr Cousins has experience which not only qualifies him for the board but complements that of the existing board directors. His experience and background qualifications certainly do not seem to be less than other directors on the board. He has a lot to add to the process of the float of T3, to the proper functioning of Telstra and to the transformation plan announced by Mr Trujillo at the briefing on Friday. It is nothing but carping and criticism for criticism’s sake to be criticising the appointment of a director who on any view passes muster.

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Will the minister now come clean and just admit that the nomination of Mr Cousins is a last minute abuse of the government’s majority shareholding, designed to spy on and undermine the independence of the Telstra board? Won’t Telstra shareholders be the losers from this disgraceful nomination?

Helen Coonan (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

To start with, Mr Cousins has fiduciary duties that he owes to the company, and there is nothing to suggest that Mr Cousins will do anything other than discharge his duties in an appropriate fashion and in accordance with the law. It is disgraceful that the Labor Party attack every single nomination that this government makes—and it does not matter to what board, it does not matter for what purpose, and it does not matter how qualified they are. The Labor Party are bereft of policy because they can only look backwards and criticise. This is the reason why you are opposing Mr Cousins. Wake up to yourselves. He is an appropriate director, and he will discharge his duties appropriately.