James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

The Australian government strongly supports the open and unrestricted use of internet for lawful purposes, which is a key principle of net neutrality. In Australia, we already have strong rules to address anticompetitive conduct and a watchdog to enforce these rules in the ACCC. We have a competitive internet service provider market in Australia. Consumers have the ability to easily change providers. This delivers strong disincentives to inhibit providers from engaging in this type of conduct.

The Australian government canvassed net neutrality in its 2006 broadband blueprint, which found that existing competition and consumer laws were well-placed to deal with any concerns. This remains the government's position. Net neutrality also received some commentary in the ACCC's recent draft communications market study, where the regulator endorsed the hands-off approach taken to date. As such, the government considers that this inquiry is unnecessary.