Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Communications) Share this | Hansard source

I share the member for Lyons's ambivalence about this bill. Time and time again we have seen this tired, third-term Morrison government demonstrate that it has no plan for our economy. The bill that we are debating today, the Communications Legislation Amendment (Deregulation and Other Measures) Bill 2019, exemplifies the government's lack of vision for Australia and shows that they have run out of ideas, run out of things to do.

This bill proposes to amend several pieces of telecommunications and broadcasting legislation to reduce the regulatory burden on those sectors. I don't object to a good telco deregulatory bill. Indeed, as a former telecommunications lawyer I embrace this as only someone who has grappled with IP&D, the accounting separation regime and the combinatorial clock spectrum auction process can! The majority of the content of this bill, however, was introduced back in 2015, during the 44th Parliament. Back then it was supported by the House, and an amended version was passed by the Senate. But the government never got around to bringing the bill back to the House for a vote, so it lapsed at the 2016 election. In the 45th Parliament the government resurrected this bill, in March 2017, and it entered the Senate in March 2018. But again it was allowed to lapse, at the 2019 election. Four years on, we are now debating the same content for the third time under a tired, third-term Liberal government. While we support this bill, we recognise that these adjustments and regulations don't really make any substantive, meaningful change. They're not going to transform anyone's life in Australian society. The bill doesn't tackle any of the real challenges facing the communications portfolio, like making sure that Australia is well placed to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the digital economy or ensuring the economic viability of an independent media, so crucial to the functioning of a healthy democracy in our country.

Labor supports this bill because it supports sensible amendments that remove unnecessary administrative burdens and repeal redundant legislation and spent acts. Amendments that allow, for example, NBN Co to dispense of surplus assets are welcome. The removal of duplicative reporting requirements for licensees, publishers and controllers to notify the ACMA of certain changes while still allowing the ACMA to maintain accurate control registers is welcome. Providing consistency in the classification range for all television programs and films is, again, welcome. One schedule of this bill would allow the minister to appoint an industry based numbering manager in place of the ACMA provided certain safeguards are met, and self-regulation has long been an important feature of the telecommunications sector. I've participated in it myself in many forums and I can attest to the expertise and national spirit of those who engage in it. It allows industry to take responsibility for its own affairs, potentially reducing the regulatory burden and administrative cost on the industry, with flow-on impacts on the cost to consumers.

When it comes to deregulation aspects of the bill, Labor is satisfied that the legislation sets out sufficiently clear principles and contains adequate reserve powers should the Commonwealth need to re-intervene if this self-regulatory approach fails. But we shouldn't overstate the significance of these reforms. They are just part of a long-overdue housekeeping exercise that could have been done two terms ago. Only one other piece of communications portfolio legislation has been introduced by this government: the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Amendment (Rural and Regional Measures) Bill 2019. Like this bill, the rural and regional measures bill is a study in the Morrison government's small-mindedness when it comes to the communications agenda. In the rural and regional measures bill, the government proposes measures with the aim of increasing regional content, but, instead of dealing with the real issue causing the decline of regional reporting—the lack of a sustainable funding stream—the bill is merely window dressing that tries to distract from the government's funding cuts to the ABC.

Since 2013, the Liberals—the coalition government—have cut $366 million from the ABC, forcing the ABC to cut 800 jobs to free up the funds it needs to continue investing in Australian content, educational resources and regional communities. But, instead of reversing these cuts, this bill seeks to amend the wording of the ABC charter and to meddle in its governance structures. The bill amends the ABC's charter to add the words 'regional' and 'geographic' so that the wording will read, 'The ABC's programs contribute to a sense of regional and national identity, inform and entertain, and reflect the culture and geographic diversity of the Australian community.' This measure is a nonsense because there's no evidence of shortcomings with the ABC charter with respect to regional and rural Australia.

In terms of governance, the bill seeks to establish an advisory council and amends the ABC Act to stipulate that the board must have two non-executive directors with a substantial connection to or experience in a regional area. This is a nonsense measure because the ABC board already has an advisory council which provides advice to the board on all matters, including rural and regional matters. Section 24X of the ABC Act already provides the minister with the power to establish additional selection criteria for board appointments. It is ironic that, while the government purports to minimise the regulatory burden on broadcasting and telecommunications entities through the legislation before the House, in another bill it is seeking to amend the ABC Act to add more bureaucracy and red tape—bureaucracy and red tape that will not create another hour of broadcasting on regional issues on ABC Radio or ABC Television. It won't fund a single additional journalist in these areas. It won't create any more content that is specific to rural and regional Australia. It just creates more bureaucracy and red tape—and for what? The ABC charter already creates obligations for the ABC to serve rural and regional Australians, which the ABC delivers on with great alacrity.

These amendments are simply government virtue signalling that will cost the taxpayer; do little to help Australians living in rural and regional Australia, who face the decline in local reporting; and distract from the lack of a real plan for communications policy in this country. A real plan would progress reforms in the telecommunications and media sector that are urgently needed for the sake of our economy and our democracy, something neither this bill nor the rural and regional measures bill does.

As someone who worked in the telecommunications sector before entering this place, I have firsthand experience of sifting through page after page of regulation implemented by parliamentarians and regulators at the sub-legislative level across this country. I can tell you that over the past two years this government has introduced a huge regulatory burden on this sector because of the failure of its multitechnology mix. The government promised its multitechnology mix would be faster and cheaper yet has delivered a network that costs more to build, costs more to run and does less. The decision to shift to the multitechnology mix in the NBN in 2014 has also resulted in Australia falling behind rival networks in the global digital economy.

A report by AlphaBeta, commissioned by the Digital Industry Group, found that Australia's tech sector could create an additional $50 billion a year were Australia successful in catching up and matching the technology sector growth rates of our global peers. Based on comparative analysis of successful leading countries, the report states that the key lesson is that governments need to take a coordinated approach to the digital economy—a coordinated approach which includes communications policy, especially considering that communications infrastructure is the foundation of the global digital economy. A coordinated approach requires a government that doesn't shy away from large-scale reforms and a government that has a plan to capitalise on the potential of more jobs and increased productivity in the digital economy. That is not this government.

This government's lack of a plan in communications policy isn't just hurting our economy; it's hurting our democracy. While the government drags its feet, it's never been more important for Australia to safeguard a thriving, independent and economically viable media. Experts at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute tell us that a healthy and robust media environment is key to Australia's democratic resilience. There are—it's a sad fact—foreign operatives that seek to undermine our democracy by spreading misinformation in our democratic system. These influence operations operate by finding cracks in the fabric of society and exploiting them, expanding divisions to weaken trust in democratic institutions in our society.

We have seen recent media coverage of the pressure on Facebook to combat misinformation on its platforms. But one of the best things we can do to protect Australia from misinformation attacks in our democracy is to ensure our media environment is free, independent and economically viable. That is our magic weapon in defending our democracy from foreign interference. But this government's complete disregard for an independent and economically viable press is highlighted day after day. We have seen it with the raid on Annika Smethurst by the Australian Federal Police, in the $366 million of cuts to the ABC and in the constant flood of complaints to the ABC director and board from ministers of this government. This interference in and dismantling of the ABC further erodes the Australian public's trust in the media institutions, a trust that is so key to building a resilient democracy and to sustaining a resilient democracy in Australia. This government needs to develop a meaningful reform plan to tackle the big issues in the communications portfolio, not just because it is important for productivity in the sector, and not just because it will enable us to reap the benefits of the digital economy, but because it is crucial to Australian democracy.

See this speech in context