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

I reject the assertion just made by the senator opposite. I'm interested in the facts. I'm interested in the fact that the new Labor Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland has already had a very poor start in standing up for Australians who need mobile connectivity, particularly in rural and regional Australia. As I spoke about in the chamber earlier today, the minister was forced to reverse the Albanese Labor government's opposition to round 1 of the Peri-Urban Mobile Program—the PUMP program—to which the coalition government delivered $28.2 million for 66 new and upgraded mobile base stations in the outer suburbs of major cities across the country.

I say to Senator Polley, there's no rewriting of history. We're interested in delivering, and when it was clear that the current minister and the Labor opposition—as it was then—failed to commit to this program I was very, very proud to join the hardworking, newly elected Liberal member for Casey to talk in his electorate about the importance of mobile connectivity. There were two PUMP projects delivered in Silvan and Menzies Creek. Less than 24 hours after we made that visit—surprise, surprise!—the minister suddenly reversed Labor's position and announced that Labor will deliver the 66 PUMP projects around the country. What a coincidence that might have been!

I commend in particular the Liberal member for Longman, who wrote to the minister asking for an update on the PUMP projects in his electorate. I think it reflects very poorly on Labor that it did not recognise the importance of standing up for mobile connectivity in communities and peri-urban areas of Australia's major cities, as it is so critical for growing jobs, businesses and families, as well as for providing vital connectivity during bushfires and other emergency situations.

Now we need to know the timeline: when will these PUMP projects be delivered? When will these upgrades be switched on? After the success of round 1, the coalition committed a significant $78.5 million to round 2 of PUMP to fix black spots and deliver vital communications upgrades to the peri-urban areas of regional cities, including Geelong, Wollongong, Gosford, Newcastle, the Sunshine Coast, the Gold Coast, Townsville, Cairns, Darwin and Canberra. This investment is just as critical, but where is the minister? Where is the minister on this $78.5 million? Where is Labor? There has been not one word from the Labor members for Corangamite, Corio, Cunningham, Newcastle or Solomon. Shame on Labor for not recognising that peri-urban areas in major regional cities deserve this investment. I condemn the Labor—

Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You're being ridiculous!

Sarah Henderson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to 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