Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Communications and Broadband) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister, and I refer her to reports of substantial exposure to asbestos in Telstra pits that are being re-opened as part of the construction of the NBN. What are the implications of this risk of asbestos contamination for the health and safety of both workers and adjacent residents, and how will the proper management of the asbestos risk impact on the NBN's rollout schedule?

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Wentworth for his question. He does raise a very serious issue. Certainly, I take the issue of asbestos exposure very seriously, as does the government. The health and safety of the community and workers is always paramount, and we know what a dangerous material asbestos can be.

The government expects Telstra and their contractors to follow Australia's strict laws in the handling and removal of asbestos when it comes to preparing their pits and ducts for the rollout of the NBN. These pits and ducts are owned by Telstra, and it is their responsibility to get them ready for the NBN rollout in a safe and secure way. I acknowledge Telstra's acceptance of their responsibility and the additional actions they have announced today. Telstra chief operations officer Brendon Riley has said today, 'This is our responsibility. We will take direct control of all asbestos related activity performed by our contractors.' Telstra previously ordered an immediate halt to all new remediation works until a comprehensive national audit of these processes is completed.

Telstra will now employ up to 200 extra field inspection workers to ensure all asbestos related remediation activity is supervised by an accredited person. The temporary stop-work on pit remediation will stay in place for contractors until they have completed further training on the safe handling and disposal of asbestos. Following all of this, Telstra will work with Comcare and an accredited training partner to review and update the mandatory training program that all Telstra contractors will need to implement before they are approved to work.

Telstra is also going to implement stronger community engagement guidelines to give the community more information. Now, of course we take all of this very seriously. Comcare inspectors are investigating the work health and safety systems of Telstra and its contractors. The Office of Asbestos Safety has been directed to coordinate a national response and work with Telstra and with the contractors on best practice. That is a lot of detail but I do want to emphasise to the House that there are no shortcuts when dealing with asbestos, and all safety procedures must be adhered to.

As this is all happening, NBN Co. will be working to maximise the rollout. Clearly, given this very serious issue of asbestos in Telstra pits and ducts, working with those pits and ducts will cause some delay as this audit work is done. But NBN rollout will continue in other places.