Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) a delegation from the Regional, Rural and Remote Communications Coalition (RRRCC) has approached Members of the 46th Parliament via a virtual delegation to highlight priorities for improving regional telecommunications;

(b) the RRRCC is a group of 21 like-minded organisations and advocacy bodies which have joined together to highlight their collective concern about the lack of equitable access to reliable and quality telecommunication in regional Australia;

(c) telecommunications is an essential service in a modern world, supporting social connectivity, business activity, and the delivery of health and education services;

(d) every Australian, irrespective of where they live or work, should have access to quality, reliable, and affordable voice and data services with customer support guarantees; and

(e) there is ongoing inequity in the access to telecommunications experienced by Australians living in regional, rural, and remote areas, compared to their urban counterparts; and

(2) calls upon the Government to ensure that regional, rural, and remote Australia is best positioned to retain people and grow in the long term, by:

(a) establishing a rural, regional and remote communications fund to resource ongoing investment in regional telecommunications through the Mobile Black Spot Program, Regional Connectivity Program and through state and territory co-investment programs;

(b) continuing its commitment to expanding the mobile network in regional Australia through the Mobile Black Spot Program or a similar program (such programs must continue to promote competition by requiring open access for all networks and the criteria for such programs reflect changing technologies and commercial circumstances);

(c) ensuring no mobile network user is disadvantaged by the switching off of the 3G network;

(d) having the Australian Communications and Media Authority investigate and monitor widespread mobile outages in regional and remote Australia, and the reliability of mobile infrastructure;

(e) ensuring there are adequate upgrade plans and pathways for regional Australians using ADSL services that provide access to higher quality or equivalent fixed broadband services;

(f) bringing about further enhancements to NBN Sky Muster in order to reflect consumer and small business needs, including more affordable plans, and a mobility product;

(g) legislating telecommunications as an essential service in all states and territories, recognising telecommunications providers as 'essential users' in natural disaster areas, and ensuring the rollout of NBN Disaster Satellite Services appropriately complement MBSP 5A upgrades to power supplies at base stations;

(h) ensuring any alternative technologies for voice service delivery be proven to have greater reliability and performance quality for regional, rural, and remote consumers;

(i) creating appropriate minimum service guarantees and performance benchmarks for connection, fault repair and appointment keeping timeframes for NBN and other statutory infrastructure providers (these obligations and timeframes must support maximum connectivity during natural disaster events and customers must be adequately compensated when baseline timeframes are exceeded);

(j) introducing adequate performance quality metrics for all services, including NBN Sky Muster, monitored against independent benchmarks;

(k) committing to funding the regional tech hub service beyond the current one-year funding period, and working with the RRRCC and state and local governments to identify and deliver digital capacity building needs beyond the remit of the regional tech hub project;

(l) creating a targeted, concessional NBN broadband service to support low-income residents in regional, rural and remote areas, and reconfiguring the existing telecommunication allowance to meet the needs of low-income, mobile-only consumers;

(m) supporting remote communities, in particular Aboriginal and Torres Strait communities, to have access to affordable telecommunications equipment so they can maximise access to services such as medical services; and

(n) requiring retail service providers to be transparent about the limitations of the more affordable services they provide to low-income consumers.

I was recently invited to participate in an online meeting with the Regional, Rural and Remote Communications Coalition. This group is made up of 22 volunteer-run organisations and advocacy bodies that have joined together to amplify their voice and to improve telecommunications for regional Australia. I was in Canberra when we met, and my team member's NBN connection was so slow that, when she tried to join the meeting, she couldn't participate. This experience is, sadly, all too familiar in regional Australia, and it is why I'm moving this motion to highlight the priorities of the coalition.

These goals are not grandiose or radical. Regional Australia just wants equitable access to reliable, quality telecommunications. Telecommunications is an essential service in the modern world. It should be managed and regulated as such, not left to market forces. Urban based public and private sector organisations cannot continue to roll out services to rural Australia based on urban experiences. The coalition has five goals: guaranteed access to voice and data services always, including during natural disasters; updated telecommunication service guarantees and adequate service performance standards; the continuation of programs to expand mobile coverage; the building of digital capacity through the provision of independent, trustworthy technical support; and affordable communications services for regional, rural and remote Australia.

I recently hosted positive ageing forums in my electorate. One issue that was raised was how expensive mobile phone plans are for those on fixed incomes, and the need for an NBN satellite service and how expensive it is. In my submission to the 2021 Regional Telecommunications Review, I have called on the government to assist low-income households, particularly pensioners, whether that be through the NBN wholesale broadband package, an annual telecommunications payment or a requirement on all statutory infrastructure providers to offer minimum internet packages to assist low-income households.

I'm also of the view that regional Australia should be prioritised for NBN technology upgrades. The focus should be on need rather than profitability. Mayo has too many premises allocated to NBN satellite. South Australia is the state with not only the highest percentage of satellite connections—around five per cent, compared to the national average of three per cent—but the highest number of Sky Muster connections within a 25-kilometre radius of the city GPO. The number of potential NBN satellite services in that radius is 2,773 premises. Nearly 88 per cent of those premises cannot upgrade via technology choice. Available figures from last year show Hobart, which came a very distant second to Adelaide, had 264 Sky Muster connections within their 25-kilometre radius. Sydney had just 28. Upgrading is expensive. I have constituents who can drive to Adelaide from their home, but they have to pay $30,000 to $100,000 for fibre.

We need to do better for regional Australia. A good place to start is the mobile network. It needs expansion and it needs better performance standards. Mobile is not guaranteed under the Universal Service Guarantee, a fact that continues to surprise so many, as mobile connectivity is an essential service, particularly in high-risk bushfire areas. The Black Summer bushfires that we all experienced in 2019-20 on Kangaroo Island and the Adelaide Hills in my electorate highlighted our community's reliance on the mobile network to receive timely information. This is about protecting life and property. On Kangaroo Island, mobile black spots caused so much concern. The lack of mobile coverage hampered the efforts of emergency services. This government and future governments need to prioritise the delivery of reliable and affordable telecommunications for regional Australia. This is critical for our regions. This is about life and death for us. We need to have healthy, economic and sustainable communities, and telecommunications is a very big part of that.

I now seek leave to table the goals document of the Regional, Rural and Remote Communications Coalition.

Leave granted.

We need to make sure that regional Australia gets put front and centre with respect to telecommunications. It is too terrifying driving for long stretches where there is no mobile coverage. We can do better in this nation.

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