Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party, Deputy Leader of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Hansard source

I welcome the opportunity to speak in continuation on the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Communications Fund) Bill 2008. It is interesting to see that we are now getting on with the real business of this House, and that is discussing matters of interest to the people of this country. Telecommunications is, as I said in my earlier contribution, vitally important to the people of regional and rural Australia.

We saw many services expanded and improved by the Howard government—services in the areas of health, education, telecommunications and infrastructure. The coalition government was a government which looked to regional Australia and its needs and delivered on those needs. What we have seen from Labor in their brief few moments in office is that they have already begun to roll back the level of services in regional and rural Australia, roll back the degree of support for the people of regional and rural Australia.

We know that regional areas are strong drivers of economic growth. But, in order to continue to deliver jobs and wealth, not only for regional areas but for the nation generally, we need the support of good infrastructure—both physical infrastructure and telecommunications infrastructure. This bill strikes at the heart of the improvements that have been made in recent times. One of the drivers of growth, particularly in my electorate, has been the ability of businesses to access ever-improving telecommunications services. This allows businesses to relocate and operate effectively in a regional area. It allows them to compete effectively from regional locations, and in some cases remote locations, against metropolitan and international competitors.

The government are going to roll back the support that is being offered. What does this bill do? This bill potentially takes away the opportunity for regional businesses and regional telecommunications consumers to access future technology. Not only do we have to make allowances for the technologies that exist today; we have to ensure that there is equity in the delivery of future technologies. What we are seeing today is just like when Labor slammed the door on the analog network and put nothing in its place. They turned off a communications lifeline that was necessary not only for business but also for safety out in regional areas. They closed it down and put nothing in its place. I guess that really is what the Labor Party offer regional Australia: nothing. In winding back this potential access to future technologies, they are continuing to stay true to form.

We see Dr Bill Glasson, a man I respect greatly, conducting the review into telecommunications in regional areas—travelling the countryside, having hearings with people in regional areas and assessing their needs—but the concern for regional consumers, on the findings that he delivers, is where the money is going to come from to finance those improvements and where the money is going to come from for those new technologies that are going to be needed by business. I think it is an absolute disgrace that the return from that fund, the $2 billion invested at a return, will not be dedicated solely to regional and rural telecommunications. Regional areas are being ripped off. Regional areas are again, under Labor, going to become a poor cousin. That has some very dramatic effects. I have seen unemployment plummet in my electorate in recent times due to the good economic policies of the previous government. We have seen a strong economy generate jobs. What we know is that it is an ever more competitive economy, that businesses have to become smarter at what they do just to stay level with their competitors and that they have to become a lot smarter at what they do to grow and get ahead.

The way in which this government is neglecting regional areas and the way in which this government is taking away access to future technology are going to mean higher unemployment in regional areas, lower incomes in regional areas and a lack of ability of regional areas to compete. It will be on the heads of the Australian Labor Party when, in a few years time, they wake up to the fact that regional areas are no longer progressing and that they are losing their competitive advantage. I think they will have to appoint another inquiry. They will probably have to have an inquiry into why regional areas are falling behind and perhaps appoint a telecommunications commissioner to make a lot of meaningless gestures about the future of telecommunications in regional areas. We do not need another inquiry. We do not need another commissioner. What we need is a commitment by this government not to political stunts like we saw in the House this morning but to supporting regional telecommunications and to ensuring that the funds that were to be dedicated to future technologies remain for the benefit of regional Australia.

The coalition government, as I said, supported regional telecommunications, and Labor is taking it away. What is the Labor Party going to say to young people in my electorate when they can no longer get a job as a result of lack of business competitiveness in regional areas? What is it going to say? What is its telecommunications commissioner going to do—make a few grandiose statements? Are we going to have a long, involved inquiry into why regional areas are not keeping up? This is where symbolism needs to stop and good policy needs to develop. We have seen endless symbolism from this government. Regional Australia has a symbolism of its own. It is a symbol of what can be achieved with good support. The successes we have achieved in regional areas are a symbol of what can be achieved outside of our metropolitan areas. It is a symbol of what can be achieved when business works together with the support of government to deliver jobs and to improve the lot of people in regional areas.

We see many of our metropolitan areas struggling to cope under the stresses of their large populations, yet we have huge opportunities to provide employment in regional areas, taking pressure off metropolitan areas and giving people a lifestyle choice—whether they want to pursue a rewarding career in a regional location as opposed to pursuing a career in a metropolitan location. If you take away the telecommunications backup, the system will fall down. The Labor Party knows it, but it does not care about people in regional areas. It has contempt for people in regional areas. It has got form on this. I do not commend the bill to the House. I register my strong objection to the contents of this bill.

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