Sarah Henderson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Communications) Share this | Hansard source

I'll take the interjection—I'm being ridiculous for standing up for regional cities, which have been totally ignored.

Senator Pratt, I will take the interjection, because when you were last in government zero funding was delivered to mobile towers—not one dollar. Labor has absolutely no credibility. To make things worse, the new Minister for Communications—the member for Greenway in Western Sydney—can't even stand up for the people of Western Sydney, axing a funding program for job-creating 5G technology projects. Labor's decision to discontinue the successful Australian 5G innovation initiative is an absolute kick in the guts for tech jobs and for our digital economy. I join with my good friend Senator Payne, a warrior for Western Sydney, in condemning this decision that is a callous attack on jobs and the digital economy.

I call on the Minister for Communications to reverse this decision of $20 million stripped out by Labor's razor gang. She's shown no ticker in standing up to Labor's razor gang. This is a vital project, a vital program, for tech jobs, for innovation and for small businesses. I call on the minister to reverse this terrible decision and reinstate this program.

Senate adjourned at 17:50