Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Competition and Consumer Safeguards) Bill 2009. The Australian Labor Party has been around since 1891. As our nation’s oldest political party, we have a very long history. When we look back at the history of this party, we see that an important characteristic has always remained true: the Australian Labor Party is the party of nation-building. We are seeing this through our investment in education, road, rail and housing across the country. It is now even more apparent with the delivery of our election commitment to build a national broadband network. This election commitment involves an investment by the government of some $4.7 billion. The commitment to build a national broadband network is one of the biggest projects the nation has seen since Prime Minister Ben Chifley introduced the Snowy hydro scheme. It is a huge undertaking and a very complicated task.

Many communities are currently constrained by inadequate broadband access and we as a government are keen to get things moving. Those same communities have also suffered from a telecommunications industry that has lacked adequate competition. What those opposite proposed in relation to providing broadband services, by way of a wireless network, to regional and rural communities was, frankly, quite laughable. Not only was the proposal of those opposite extremely unreliable but it was an inadequate option for rural and regional Australia.

On the other hand, major stakeholders have shown great interest in the rollout of the National Broadband Network. They are excited by the possibilities that the National Broadband Network will bring to our local communities. In my own community, local councils—many of whom had discussions with Minister Conroy when he visited the Ballarat electorate last month—want to be part of developing the network. I have signalled to Senator Conroy that I am keen to work with him on how these measures will benefit regions in my district.

With the bill before the parliament today we have taken another step in our task of revolutionising our nation’s telecommunications industry. The importance of the government’s reforms on growing regional Australia should not be underestimated in relation to the broadband. Discussions between Senator Conroy, local stakeholders across the Ballarat electorate and me displayed only a snapshot of the possibilities that come with a national broadband network—possibilities that will enable small businesses and regional communities to compete on a global scale. In order to make this national broadband network a reality, the telecommunications industry in Australia needs significant change—change that the Australian people have needed for some time.

Under this bill before the parliament today, the government is moving to create greater competition across the telecommunications sector, strengthen consumer safeguards and reduce red tape. Much of the attention and debate that has arisen since this bill was introduced has focused on our proposed changes to the structure of the telecommunications sector. We have seen a huge focus on this because industry knows, and consumers know, that what we are proposing is significant reform to a sector that has been constrained for a long period of time.

With this bill we are amending the Telecommunications Act 1997 to require Telstra to functionally separate unless they voluntarily structurally separate. The Rudd government’s reforms to Australia’s telecommunications sector are about implementing a system that is in the long-term interest of the Australian people. The level of Telstra’s integration within the telecommunications industry is currently highly uncompetitive. The fixed line copper network that connects almost every household is owned by Telstra. The largest cable network is owned by Telstra. The largest mobile phone network is owned by Telstra. Half of the largest pay TV provider is controlled by Telstra. Telstra’s ownership in the telecommunications industry is significant. The competitive benefits of such concentrated ownership are not easy to find. The Rudd government is working to reinvigorate sound competition across the telecommunications sector with the proposals in this bill. Our amendments in the bill work to achieve this. Our amendments address the level of Telstra’s integration in the sector to promote competition and address the failure of the previous government to act over the past decade. The current arrangements not only fail consumers but fail to promote competition for small and large business. This is no more apparent than across regional and rural Australia—and many areas in my own electorate.

Our measures are working to place Australia in line with telecommunications across other developed countries. In comparison to OECD countries, Australia is sitting in the bottom half in terms of broadband take-up. This is astounding, considering that local businesses across my electorate tell me that they need adequate technology just to survive, and particularly to be competitive in this global financial crisis. Clearly the level of technology on offer cannot meet these requirements. Not only do we have a lower level of broadband take-up but those who choose to take it up are paying high prices for low-speed connections. It is really a damning indictment of Telstra—which, frankly, has had a monopoly over telecommunications services for such a long time period of time—that we have such a woeful broadband network and that government is now required to step up to the plate in order to provide the much-needed infrastructure that will boost Australia’s economy.

The Rudd government has proposed the separation of Telstra as the company currently has an interest in favouring its own retail arm. These changes are all about introducing competition. Under our changes, Telstra may undertake, with the ACCC, to voluntarily separate its retail and wholesale services. In fact, it is the federal government’s preference that Telstra choose to do this voluntarily. If Telstra does not separate voluntarily then it will be required to do so on functional lines.

This bill seeks to promote competition and to overcome the former government’s missed opportunities in telecommunications. The bill also amends the Trade Practices Act to improve access and strengthen anticompetitive measures by amending the ACCC’s regulatory powers. As part of these measures, we are streamlining the process of access to telecommunications services. These changes were given strong support by the submissions received as part of the consultation process. The ACCC will now be able to set price and non-price terms for three to five years for declared services. Measures in this bill will also give the ACCC the ability to act quickly on breaches of the law. This can now be achieved as we have removed the requirement for the ACCC to consult with a party prior to issuing a competition notice.

The bill also seeks to strengthen the ability to enforce consumer safeguards. Consumers should have access to telecommunications services that are not only of a high quality but also affordable. High-quality and affordable telecommunications services are something that many of the residents in my own electorate have argued for, certainly since I was elected in 2001. This bill will ensure that the quality and affordability of services provided by Telstra will be maintained during the transition to the National Broadband Network.

This bill ensures that consumers and small business, especially in regional Australia, are no longer forgotten. At present, consumer protection measures include the universal service obligation, the customer service guarantee and the priority assistance arrangements. But the government has received a clear message, from a number of reviews, that these consumer safeguards need strengthening, and this legislation is seeking to achieve this. We are putting forward rules to improve the regulation of payphones, to maintain the minimum performance benchmarks and to give the Australian Communications and Media Authority greater powers.

The last point of this package I would like to recognise is the provision to reduce the level of regulation. The government has made a firm decision to work with industry to reduce red tape across the Australian economy, and this bill is another example of the government’s commitment. To achieve this we are doing a number of things. This bill will amend the Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Charges) Act 1997 to provide an exemption for carriers whose annual revenues are below $25 million from paying an annual carrier licence charge. These carriers will not be required to contribute to the universal service and national relay service levies. This is a positive move forward for carriers and consumers. As part of this package the government has also introduced changes to reporting requirements. If performance benchmarks are met, reporting requirements under the customer service guarantee, the priority assistance arrangements and the network reliability framework will be reduced. We will also be repealing unnecessary accounting and operational separation requirements once Telstra has been separated.

The Australian people are tired of inaction from governments on addressing the myriad issues that exist across the telecommunications sector. Frankly, people are fed up. The reforms that the government has outlined in this bill reflect the most significant changes to the telecommunications sector in over a decade. The package will introduce a new dynamic to that sector. We are committed to the promotion of competition and to quality services for the Australian people both in the suburbs and in regional areas. The task ahead is a tough one but incredibly important, certainly for regional Australia. The government has set a significant policy agenda in the area of telecommunications.

The Liberal Party, in government for over a decade, failed to deliver much-needed reform to the telecommunications sector. As a result, consumers and small businesses have been the real losers. Even now, with these changes in the pipeline, the coalition are not supportive of these reforms. Earlier today we heard the member for Dunkley speak on this bill and describe our position as rash, unjustified and irrational. On the other hand, we had Senator Joyce saying that he wishes they had introduced such reforms when they were in government. It is a bit hard for the government to work out what the coalition’s position is, not only on this bill but on a number of bills before us at the moment. Yet in the House of Representatives today we have heard little support for this bill from those opposite.

It beggars belief that the Liberal Party still hold such archaic views. Either they are too ashamed to state that they failed to act or the party are out of touch with the needs of everyday households. The third possibility is that the members opposite cannot reach a common policy agreement on this vital issue. And what do they do when they cannot reach agreement? They do not try and sort it out, talk to each other and reach agreement; they try, through the processes of parliament, to delay much-needed reform. Unfortunately, that is what we are seeing again here today with this bill. Personally, though, I suspect it is a mix of all of the above.

I, on the other hand, support these reforms to position Australia’s telecommunications industry for the 21st century. Members of the Rudd government are in common agreement and support of this 21st century measure. Regional Australia is looking forward to the National Broadband Network and supports many of the measures that are in this bill. I commend this bill to the House.

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