Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak briefly on the Telstra Corporation and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2021. This bill upholds Telstra's regulatory obligations as it undertakes a corporate restructure which will be one of the most significant changes to the company since its privatisation. It ensures legislative obligations continue to apply following these reforms which promote competition, protect consumers and support Telstra's role in Australia's communications network. I was interested to speak on this bill in part because of my longstanding history as an employee of Telstra, an opportunity that gave me very great insight into the communication needs and challenges of consumers, particularly in regional and rural Australia. So I want to outline a number of the key measures in this bill that have a particular focus on the impact on regional and rural areas.

The first key change relates to the universal service obligation and consumer safeguards. Despite significant changes to the telecommunications industry over recent years, Telstra continues to play a key role in connecting people across our nation and particularly in regional, rural and remote Australia. This has long been reinforced by a range of consumer safeguards, including the USO that guarantees the delivery of basic telephone and payphone services in rural and remote areas. This is in addition to the customer service guarantee, the network reliability framework and priority assistance as well as the operation of the triple 0 emergency call service. Delivery of the USO and triple 0 service is further supported by a contract with Telstra which provides for the company's ongoing use of copper to deliver telephone services in rural areas. The bill ensures these arrangements continue to operate effectively following the restructure, which will involve a new service delivery company, ServeCo, and gives the minister new directions powers to ensure longstanding universal service obligations are fulfilled. These measures reflect the Morrison government's commitment to people across Australia continuing to have access to essential communications services.

The recent challenge of summer bushfires and drought in regional and remote Australia have made it pretty clear just how important connection to others via phone or internet really is. Whether it be for business, education or just to be able to connect with family or friends, people in rural and regional areas depend on a reliable telecommunications network. This of course has changed over recent years with the increase in coverage of mobile communications around Australia.

The bill also implements two more minor amendments, including maintaining foreign investment obligations that have applied to Telstra since privatisation. This prevents more than 35 per cent of key Telstra subsidiaries being sold to foreign entities, ensures Telstra's headquarters remains in Australia and prevents more than five per cent of Telstra being sold to a single foreign person. This safeguards Australia's critical telecommunications assets into the future.

The bill also extends the tower access framework, which supports competition in the telecommunications market by providing other carriers with access to tower infrastructure. Telstra's restructure revealed issues with the current framework which could result in the carrier limiting access to its tower assets. This bill addresses this issue and applies to all carriers, not just Telstra. These changes will ensure that our telecommunications network continues to operate efficiently and effectively into the future.

The Morrison government is focused on improving telecommunications in rural and regional Australia through a variety of initiatives. For example, we committed around $300 million to the Mobile Black Spot Program, which helped to fund more than 1,200 mobile base stations around the country, with more than 900 already on air and providing much needed mobile connectivity to rural and regional areas. This is in addition to the $230.6 million for the Regional Connectivity Program and $4.5 billion in NBN network upgrades, including NBN Co's $300 million regional co-investment fund.

In my own electorate of Robertson I fought really hard to be able to deliver funding for a number of mobile base stations, including in Calga, Killcare, Spencer, Wendoree Park and Wisemans Ferry Road. Particularly I think of some of the many conversations with local residents in Spencer and Wendoree Park when they told me of the frustration they had with having absolutely no mobile coverage in those areas and what that meant to them in terms of safety and the ability to connect with people when and where they needed. So I was very pleased to see this investment being delivered.

The issue of improved mobile coverage has been particularly important for residents along the Hawkesbury River. There is nothing more frustrating than needing to make a phone call or access the internet and having the connection drop out or, worse, having no connection at all, which of course could become a very serious issue when you consider areas like Spencer, Marlow and Wendoree Park and the threats from devastating summer bushfires or some of the recent flooding. Residents needed a reliable phone connection in the recent flooding to reach emergency services, and many expressed to me their relief with the arrival of the new mobile base stations. I know that there's still more to do to ensure that the network is expanded even further, but I do really want to congratulate the local community for their advocacy on this issue. I assure them I'm going to continue to fight to deliver more funding for communities along the Hawkesbury River and in areas in my community that really struggle to have access to reliable mobile coverage. At this stage the Killcare mobile base station is the only outstanding project in my electorate. I look forward to seeing local residents have better experience with making phone calls and being able to stay connected.

This bill upholds Telstra's regulatory obligations as it undertakes a corporate restructure, promoting competition, protecting consumers and supporting Australia's telecommunications network. I commend it to the House.

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