Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Coonan, the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. I refer to the letters that the minister has sent to 500,000 Australians explaining that they ‘have not received a commercial upgrade to enable access to ADSL or wireless broadband’. Can the minister confirm that 3G is wireless broadband? Is the minister also aware of reports that Australians who have received her letter have been informed by her department’s website that they already have access to ADSL broadband? Can the minister indicate whether she is continuing to mail her misleading letters to Australians? Will the minister now commit to reimbursing taxpayers for the cost of the Liberal Party propaganda which has misled the Australian public?

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

Thank you, Senator Conroy, for the question. It comes as absolutely no surprise; in fact it is rather predictable from a Labor Party which is nothing but a puppet and is doing the bidding of Telstra. We know that Telstra and the Labor Party are hand in glove, as we found out from documents produced in the last couple of days. Nevertheless, I am more than happy to continue to respond to the same questions that are asked of me of both Labor and then of Telstra. So, here we go.

Telstra is complaining about a letter sent by my department to households that, according to data held by my department, cannot currently receive a metro-comparable terrestrial broadband service such as ADSL. The letter advises these residents of the government’s Australia Connected initiative and the new OPEL WiMAX and ADSL2+ high-speed broadband network that will cover those particular households in the near future. It is something for them to look forward to. And it is entirely appropriate, I would have thought, to inform the constituents of government initiatives, especially for a program of this nature which involves $958 million of government funding to extend high-speed broadband to 99 per cent of the population at prices they can afford.

The recipients of the letters were persons, based on data held by the department, considered to be not well served with an affordable metro-comparable broadband service. So, once again, Telstra, true to form, has threatened action against the government, and I do not propose to comment any further on that particular point. However—

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I raise a point of order going to relevance. Could you draw the minister’s attention to the question, which was:

Can the Minister confirm that 3G is wireless broadband?

That was the question. And:

Can the minister indicate whether she is continuing to mail her misleading letters to Australians?

And will she reimburse taxpayers? She is over halfway through her time to answer and she has not addressed any of those questions.

Alan Ferguson (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The minister still has over two minutes of time remaining to answer the question. It was a question that was broader than you originally suggested. I call Senator Coonan.

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

Thank you, Mr President. So, as those matters go to matters that are, apparently, going to be the subject of some legal action, I am not going to join issue with Senator Conroy, because I prefer to answer it where there is an appropriate place to do so.

What is interesting about Senator Conroy’s question, and the whole line of questioning of the Labor Party when it comes to telecommunications matters, is the closeness between the Labor Party and Telstra. It is because Telstra has realised that only under a Labor government will it be possible to retain its monopoly, destroy competition, wind back safeguards for consumers, and support a twofold increase in both telephone and broadband prices. The shame of the matter is that Telstra has got the Labor Party where it wants it—a puppet on a string, prepared to do Telstra’s bidding regardless of how it will hurt consumers.

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Can the minister explain why her media adviser, when asked about the mail-out, claimed in the Australian newspaper on Friday that ‘there is now serious competition in the market, providing choice for consumers’? How can the minister write to Australians about their lack of access to broadband when her own office admits that the OPEL product creates competition in the market?

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

Well—

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Conroy interjecting—

Alan Ferguson (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Senator Conroy, you have asked the question; now wait for the answer.

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

I hope that those listening to this broadcast understand that the Labor Party have got some fundamental objection to choice for consumers. What an extraordinary admission! And it is clear that Telstra does not like choice and does not like competition, and Senator Conroy and Mr Rudd have not got the bottle to stand up to Telstra, just like they cannot stand up to the trade unions or the state Labor governments, and they are obviously not going to be able to stand up to consumers being ridden roughshod over in the bush.

We will resist Telstra’s sideshows. We will resist Labor’s sideshows. We will continue to stand up for rural and regional Australians. We will not be intimidated by this sideshow that is going on with court actions and questions in question time, and we will continue to roll out the services that consumers need and want. (Time expired)

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.