Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I am rising to speak on the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Submarine Cable Protection) Bill 2013. It is designed to protect the integrity, operation and security of submarine cables that are critical in providing telecommunications services between our continent and the rest of the globe. There has been a longstanding regime for protecting these cables. In fact, we are one of the few countries in the world that has a regime in place to do just this. These cables have been in place for decades and the regime has been there to support their continued and efficient operation. About three years ago, the ACMA—the Australian Communications and Media Authority—reviewed aspects of the regime, and the review recommended a number of actions that the minister spoke to when he introduced the legislation to the House. Notably, it ensures consistency between our cable protection regime and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. It provides a structured process for the consideration of matters within the Attorney-General's portfolio concerning submarine cable installation and permit applications. It also enables significant domestic submarine cables or cables that connect two places within our nation to be brought under the regime and to be protected. It will streamline permit processes that govern installation. Finally, the bill contains some administrative and technical amendments.

The bill takes on greater importance when we consider how businesses are starting to respond to the demand for cable capacity. It is not surprising that, as more and more people and businesses begin to move into the online world, they are effectively transferring the way in which they operate from analog to digital—digitising businesses, creating demand for data, downloading more data and producing more data. The Australian Bureau of Statistics found that in the 12 months to December 2012, in relation to fixed line internet access, download of data had grown at a rate of about 63 per cent. I have often quoted the fact that, on figures that I have seen, the amount of data that is expected to be produced globally will increase by a phenomenal 4,300 per cent. The pressure is well and truly on for us to have the ability to transmit that data. So these cables are critical, particularly in linking us into servers based in other continents, and having this protection is vital.

In his second reading speech the Minister for Communications said that this bill was important in a wider context. He broadened the scope of his contribution and focus to state:

But connectedness is not just about ensuring our submarine cables—

which are the focus of the bill—

or satellite links or even backhaul fibre are of a high standard—it is just as much about ensuring that Australian mums and dads, school kids or small business people can take advantage of the resources and opportunities of the internet.

That then gave him a platform to broaden his discussion and, amazingly, to say that the government could claim that they are delivering a better National Broadband Network. Their definition of 'better' is not to use one of the best platforms available to deliver data, which is fibre-optic cable. Their view of a better national broadband network is to rely on copper as the platform of the future—a technology that has been used for 100 years. I heard the member for Perth in her contribution quoting Telstra executives who, some time ago, had said that they were sweating the last moments of the copper network. This is what the member for Wentworth has championed within his party as the way of the future—copper. It is not NBN-lite, it is NBN-dull, because it will slow down the ability to download data.

More importantly, as has often been reflected when it comes to issues involving the internet and broadband in this country, it is not just about download speeds but about upload capacity. In terms of the tech sector in Australia being able to conduct its work, to innovate, this is the focus for the future. We are being condemned with a fibre-to-the-node proposal that will dull down the ability of Australians to get better speeds on both download and upload. The minister in his speech stated:

… we have committed to prioritising the NBN rollout in areas with the poorest services so that those who currently cannot connect, or have the poorest speeds, get fast broadband sooner.

The Sydney Morning Heraldreviewed the minister's plan in an article entitled 'Turnbull's broadband plan too slow, too late'. The minister says that this is the plan that will see those who suffer with the poorest services, those who cannot connect, getting fast broadband sooner.

The minister knows of my long-running advocacy on behalf of residents in areas of the Chifley electorate that have been condemned with poor service. When the coalition was last in government it attempted 20 times to improve broadband and failed. For instance, residents of Woodcroft in my electorate suffered for ages. They were never going to see a fibre connection established from the Blacktown exchange. They were condemned with an overloaded copper network. In this residential estate there had been no plan for a better network. These residents had been condemned with poor service.

In his second reading speech on this bill, the minister reflected on the fact that he had been to Blacktown in the Chifley electorate, and he said that this was an area where Telstra HFC and Optus HFC cable existed. Yes, it did. HFC exists in Sydney and Melbourne. It was not widely opened up for household consumers to access broadband. It was primarily used as a method of delivering Foxtel signals, but it was not opened up for people to access internet services.

As a result of advocacy undertaken by me in conjunction with residents of Woodcroft, we were able to work with Telstra to open up areas of the cable broadband network in parts of Woodcroft as an interim measure while we waited for the NBN. The NBN was able to be rolled out in Woodcroft because it fell within a fibre footprint area which, as we announced in July 2010, allowed Woodcroft—as a result of advocating on their behalf and pushing for them to get broadband—to be included in the three-year roll-out plan. Residents of Woodcroft were finally able to see a ray of light that would let them access better internet services, because they knew the NBN was rolling out. In the interim we opened up cable broadband in parts of that suburb, which improved service dramatically, as well as an investment in ADSL Top Hat, which saw capacity for ADSL, particularly ADSL2, being offered to residents. What happened?

Again, the minister says he is looking at prioritising the rollout of broadband in areas that have had the poorest connections. When the government announced their updated maps for their NBN rollout plan a few weeks ago, one of the mostly poorly served broadband network areas, Woodcroft, was completely dropped off the revised figures. The member for Wentworth went to the election claiming that every construction contract would be honoured, but he never had the courage or the decency to say that he was going to alter that commitment and break that promise once in government.

The member for Wentworth basically manufactured a deception on people who were expecting the NBN. He changed the terms. He said he would only honour contracts where the build instruction had been issued, thereby robbing residents of Woodcroft and Doonside, who were expecting to be connected to the NBN and had been waiting for years to get better broadband. They had been denied better broadband by the Howard government and now they are being ripped off by the Abbott government. This is from a person who makes a big deal of the fact that he can catch public transport and go out to Blacktown and say, 'There's HFC out here.' He has a great sense of theatre. He does not have a lot of modesty, but there are a lot of theatrical elements to the minister, the member for Wentworth. He talked about the fact that people could access HFC. In actual fact, if you hop online and try to access HFC services in the areas he looked at, you will see that not all the providers provide HFC access to the HFC network. So, clearly, he has not even done his homework. Frankly, I would not expect much from a Minister for Communications who advocates copper as a basis for rolling out better broadband services into the future. You are not really a fair dinkum communications minister if you think that that is the thing that you need to advocate for improving broadband in this country.

The member for Wentworth has ripped off Woodcroft residents. Those residents have complained bitterly about being left off the map. They do not deserve this shabby treatment from the member for Wentworth. He came out during the federal election to try to snare votes. He then made a promise about improving broadband services. He broke his promise after manufacturing a deception on the residents of Western Sydney. Then he slunk back to Bondi, which, funnily enough, has way better connection then the residents of Western Sydney are entitled to enjoy.

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