Ursula Stephens (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Science and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question today is to Senator Coonan, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. I again refer the minister to the removal of Telstra payphones at the Wollongong TAFE campus. Is the minister aware that students at the campus have serious concerns about their safety because there has been a rape and bag snatchers near the campus and that the removal of Telstra payphones from the TAFE campus will force students to walk a significant distance through a dark and isolated part of the campus to reach alternative payphones? Doesn’t this show that payphones play an important security role for the most vulnerable in our community? Why is the minister putting community safety at risk and doing nothing to stop Telstra from cutting those phones?

Helen Coonan (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you to Senator Stephens for the question. I think the issue of payphones and consumers’ rights are absolutely critical, but it is farcical to suggest that, if there are several payphones, it is not an appropriate program to remove some that are simply not needed. There are many that are, and that is why the government has taken a very strong stand in relation to Telstra’s proposal to remove phones to ensure that any under the universal service obligation are very clearly identified and that all Australians have reasonable access to a payphone.

I thought I said in answer to Senator Forshaw’s question that, in relation to payphones near educational institutions, security and safety can be an issue. It may be that they are universal service obligation phones, but they may not be. The important thing to do is, instead of complain about it, go and see what can be done about it, because there are some options. Telstra will consult with the institution to discuss options for any payphones that may be surplus to its USO obligations. If phones are USO phones they cannot be removed. If phones are surplus to USO obligations, Telstra will consult and will look at options to ensure that the needs of people using those facilities are met—assuming, of course, they do not have mobile phones. The advent of mobile phones and the penetration of mobile phones have meant that a lot of payphones are simply not used as much as they were a number of years ago.

The important thing here is that there are some options. Those options should be investigated. The government have looked at this issue very carefully. We take very seriously the rights of consumers in relation to payphones and we will continue to do so.

Ursula Stephens (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Science and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. I am glad to hear that the minister takes those responsibilities seriously, because the local member for Wollongong has written to both the minister and Telstra seeking some clarification about the USO provisions of this phone. In the light of the value of the phone, why won’t the minister, having had this raised with her, include this phone under the Telstra universal service obligation and why is the minister making the most vulnerable in our community pay for this ideological obsession about privatising Telstra?

Helen Coonan (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is just getting too silly. I have answered this question as a very serious matter that affects consumers and I have given information that will assist consumers, particularly in relation to educational institutions. What I do want to say is that, of course, with what the Labor Party was going to offer this country, you would only have a payphone; you certainly would not have a mobile phone because they turned off the analog spectrum. You could not even have a mobile phone. You would have had a 40-kilobit dial-up internet service and you would have blown $5 billion for the consumer. You cannot trust Labor—certainly not when it comes to telecommunications.

Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.