Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Communications) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

This bill reaffirms the Australian government's commitment to ongoing public ownership of the National Broadband Network (NBN) and to remove existing conditions that create a pathway to privatisation of this vital national infrastructure.

Introduction

The National Broadband Network Companies Amendment (Commitment to Public Ownership) Bill 2024 (the bill) will amend the National Broadband Network Companies Act 2011 (NBN act) to recognise in legislation the government's policy that NBN Co Limited (NBN Co), the company that operates the National Broadband Network (NBN), remains in public ownership. The bill also makes minor consequential amendments to the NBN act and to the Telecommunications Act 1997.

Context of the Bill

In December 2022, the Minister for Finance and I, as joint shareholder ministers for NBN Co, issued an updated Statement of Expectations which confirms the government policy to keep NBN Co in public hands for the foreseeable future, providing the company with the certainty needed to continue delivering improvements to the network while keeping prices affordable.

This bill strengthens that commitment and makes it part of the legislative framework. This change will remove the existing legislative conditions which, if satisfied, enable privatisation of NBN Co.

The NBN is critical national infrastructure

The NBN was established by the Labor government because of the failure of the former coalition government to foresee and plan for the digital transformation of the economy. The sale of Telstra by the coalition sold out communities, particularly in rural and regional Australia, both in terms of critical infrastructure investment and service quality for consumers. Crucially, the Telstra sale also deprived the government of strategic levers to drive the investment necessary for Australians to fully access reliable high-speed broadband and the productivity and digital inclusion benefits that delivers.

That is why it remains vital that the ongoing mission and focus of the NBN to deliver affordable, accessible high-speed broadband to all Australians be guided by the public interest, rather than the commercial interests of a privileged few.

We will retain strong regulatory oversight of the pricing of NBN wholesale products by the ACCC, and the government will continue to act in the interests of regional communities to narrow the digital communications divide.

The NBN is Australia's digital backbone, carrying the majority of the download traffic for Australian households, and the NBN also carries a significant proportion of voice traffic for consumers. It is critical for this national infrastructure to be reliable, resilient and secure. In a time of rising risks of cybersecurity we will ensure that the NBN stays in the ownership of the Australian people.

The NBN reaches over 12.4 million premises across Australia. Currently, more than 8.6 million homes and businesses in Australia are connected to the NBN.

The government has been making ongoing investment in the NBN to bring the benefits of high-speed broadband to more Australians. This government support includes a commitment of $2.4 billion to replace the deteriorating copper network with fibre, which provides 90 per cent of Australians—around 10 million premises in the NBN fixed-line footprint—with access to faster and more reliable broadband.

This investment is already delivering benefits with increased reliability, fewer faults and access to higher speeds.

In addition, the government and NBN Co are delivering a $750 million investment to upgrade services in the NBN fixed-wireless network, which has flow-on benefits to NBN satellite services. This investment has already delivered uplifted speeds on existing plans and has introduced new fixed-wireless high-speed tiers, with wholesale peak download speeds that range from 200 megabits per second up to 400 megabits per second.

The upgrade has also enabled unlimited data to be introduced for NBN satellite plans with download speeds of up to 100 megabits per second.

The NBN is vital nation-building infrastructure, essential to the wellbeing, safety and prosperity of Australians. An NBN that provides fast, reliable and affordable connectivity is critical to Australian households and businesses having access to key services to drive productivity growth and support digital inclusion and equitable access.

Keeping NBN Co in public hands is better for Australia

Keeping NBN Co in public hands will ensure the company has the certainty necessary for its investment planning and operational decisions, which are needed to maximise the economic and social benefits of the NBN. This is in contrast to a privately owned NBN Co, which would be focussed on maximising the profits of its owners and would not have strong incentives to make the investments needed to keep prices affordable and connect Australians in regional and remote Australia, including First Nations communities.

There will be no conditions or stepping stones to privatisation

The NBN act currently sets out conditions that, once satisfied, would enable a future government to initiate privatisation of the company. Once these conditions are met and a sale scheme completed, there would no longer be whole public ownership of NBN Co.

Since the government has no intention to sell the NBN, there is no requirement for a legislative sale scheme. Other government business enterprises, for example Australia Post, do not have provisions for sale in their enabling legislation.

This bill removes that pathway to privatisation and commits to keeping the NBN wholly owned by the Australian people. A new section 43A will be introduced in the NBN act to make clear parliament's intention that NBN Co would remain wholly owned by the Commonwealth.

The b ill would not change the operation of the NBN

It is proposed that the bill will commence on the day after the royal assent.

Importantly, the amendments proposed by the bill are largely mechanical in nature and do not change the operations of the NBN. These are proportionate and balanced amendments consistent with the government's policy to keep the NBN in public hands.

The proposed new statement of parliamentary intent would, in recognition of the national significance and nationwide accessibility of the NBN, further reaffirm the importance of NBN Co remaining in public hands, and safeguard Australia's long term economic and security interests.

Conclusion

Through this bill, the National Broadband Network Companies Act 2011 will be amended to remove conditions enabling a future government to privatise NBN Co. These changes reinforce in legislation the government's commitment.

The bill provides certainty to stakeholders, including broadband consumers, the wider telecommunications industry, broadband retailers, and NBN Co, that the Commonwealth will continue to retain ownership of NBN Co. This certainty supports the government commitment for NBN Co to provide high-speed and reliable broadband connectivity for Australians.

See this speech in context