Carina Garland (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

In many ways this is quite a strange motion. It's quite misleading. I'm not sure what battle those opposite are fighting when we look at what our government is doing in having a holistic approach to the digital economy. This is a motion around something very superficial, about a name for a ministry, rather than the substance of what we're actually doing to achieve real progress in the space of the digital economy. It's something we take seriously and it's something we see that we need a whole-of-government approach on. This is why we understand the intersection of the digital economy across many portfolios, including Treasury and communications—to name a couple that my colleague and friend the member for Hasluck outlined already.

Let's look at what we're doing. Let's look at how the digital economy is already embedded in the work that our government's doing. Frankly, I'm not terribly surprised that those opposite are stuck in the past and fighting a fight that has already moved on, because on this issue, like so many, they are looking backwards rather than looking forwards, which is our government's focus. Before Labor won government in May last year it really was only possible to characterise the previous decade of government as a decade of waste and neglect. That is perhaps in no way clearer than when it comes to the digital economy.

The previous decade saw the former government exhibit a startling lack of understanding regarding the role that the digital economy could play in determining the future of our country. This laziness caused both them and, more importantly, Australia to lose out on some of the biggest shifts in the digital age. With digital technology revolutionising sectors and propelling global economic development, unfortunately, Australia found itself trapped in the past due to the lack of vision from those opposite. That's a past that they are still seemingly trapped in right now, during this debate. Those opposite, satisfied with the status quo, selected a path of stagnation rather than lifting their vision, lifting their ambition for this country, embracing the digital revolution and investing in vital areas like digital infrastructure, research and development, and cybersecurity. We're all poorer for that failure.

The lack of investment, of financial resources, allocated towards digital infrastructure, such as fast broadband networks, significantly impeded our capacity to contend with global competition. Other countries were creating state-of-the-art digital infrastructure while we were forced to struggle with sluggish internet speeds and spotty access. We've suffered a great deal as a result of the inability of those opposite to invest in the foundation of the digital economy. I'm really pleased that we're changing that in so many ways.

We know cybersecurity has been an area of neglect. We know the devastating impact that scams are having in our communities, having lost $3 billion as a nation last year to scammers. It's amazing what difference a change of government makes in addressing this terrible issue. We are committing $86.5 million over three years to combat scam activity and online fraud. Imagine $3 billion ripped out of our communities because those opposite allowed scammers to take advantage of our communities. We are investing $58 million in funding for the ACCC to establish the National Anti-Scam Centre, which launched earlier this year, and we're also establishing an SMS sender ID registry, which will help block scammers from infiltrating legitimate text streams. This issue is of utmost importance to my community. I go around to community groups across my electorate and I speak to people about what they can do to prevent scams, because it is really unacceptable that so many people are being targeted by criminals in the way that they are, and it's a shame that we weren't able to take action over the past decade.

Let's look at what we're doing in the digital economy beyond just that. We're discussing central bank digital currencies. Those opposite are still obsessing over ATMs. We're discussing seamless real-time digital payments. We're building a framework to ensure electric vehicles can be built in Australia, rather than goading car industries and other manufacturers to leave our shores. Those opposite say one thing and do another. They barely moved the needle on tech jobs when they had the opportunity, despite the platitudes we hear in this place today. As with a lot of things, we just get a lot of rhetoric but very little action, the opposite of our government. I'm really pleased to be a part of the Albanese Labor government.

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