Julian McGauran (Victoria, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Coonan. Will the minister update the Senate on the government’s support for competition in the telecommunications sector? Is the minister aware of any alternative policies?

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

I thank Senator McGauran for a very good question indeed. Today marks the 10th anniversary of open competition in Australian telecommunications. Ten years ago the Howard government spearheaded major reforms to telecommunications long neglected by the Labor government. When the government was elected in 1996, we inherited a near duopoly in the telecommunications industry. Competition was limited and consumers were the losers. Since the government’s telecommunications reforms of 1997 there are now 167 providers vigorously competing in the telecommunications field, and there can be no argument that consumers have been the major beneficiaries of competition reforms. Fixed line prices have fallen substantially—by 18.9 per cent—and mobile service prices have fallen by a whopping 36 per cent.

In fact, since 1997, the overall price of telecommunications services has fallen by 26.2 per cent, which is a staggering amount. The Australian economy has grown by $15.2 billion since 1997, thanks to the Australian government reforms of the telecommunications sector. Only this morning, I tabled an ACCC report on the performance of the industry for the last financial year. The report showed that investment had increased from $6.3 billion in 2004-05 to $69 billion in 2005-06—signs of a very healthy framework, with increasing investment levels and increasing productivity leading to falling prices for consumers.

But it does disappoint me to see that not everyone has supported open competition of the telecommunications sector. Labor, for instance, have opposed each of the three tranches of the sale of Telstra prior to opportunistically caving in just a couple of weeks ago when they wanted to dip their paws into the honey pot and raid the Future Fund. Labor opposed the tough decisions taken by the Howard government to create a highly competitive telecommunications industry that has resulted in reduced prices and increased choices for consumers.

This is why we say, ‘Don’t listen to what Labor say in opposition; just look at what they do.’ People remember that Labor have voted against every major economic reform that has been introduced by the coalition government. Labor have voted against tax reform, against retiring their own debt, against industrial relations reform and against the introduction of competition in the telecommunications sector. Now a poll-driven Mr Rudd would have you believe that he is a fiscal conservative. His advertisement says so. As Mr Keating has so graphically reminded us, Labor cannot get out of bed in the morning without having a focus group to tell them which side of the bed to get out of. But it takes more than a focus group to run a trillion-dollar economy. It takes tough decisions and sound judgement. The massive benefit brought to consumers by the competition reforms is just another example of the dividend that is made possible by the Howard government’s strong economic management.