Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before I begin, I want to reiterate the comments that I inadvertently made over the speech of Senator Duniam, which was that Jeremy Rockliff, the Tasmanian premier, is very excited—so excited that he's tweeted that eligible Tasmanian households will receive $250 off their power bill each year for the next two years—even if those opposite aren't excited.

Last night's budget detailed the Albanese Labor government's economic plan for Australia. It was a Labor budget through and through—help for those most vulnerable. It looked to the future and endorsed Labor's record of fiscal responsibility: relief, repair and restraint, the values that this Labor government was entrusted with and is delivering on. And today I would like to talk about another Labor initiative that the Albanese government has been hard at work at since its election last year: the continuing work on improving mobile black spots through the Improving Mobile Coverage program. For nine long years the electorate of Braddon in the north-west of Tasmania, my home, was held back, as the former government neglected rural and regional investment. So when Labor, in our election platform, publicly committed to deliver $40 million for improved mobile coverage in specific locations, it was a welcome relief to the people and businesses of Braddon.

This funding was confirmed in last year's October budget—delivery on a commitment that was just one part of our more than $2.2 billion commitment to improving regional telecommunications in Australia. In March, the government opened applications for round 3 of the Regional Connectivity Program and another round of the Mobile Black Spot Program, a $160 million combined grants opportunity designed to help those living in rural, regional, remote and First Nations communities stay connected.

Let's not forget that in the 2016 priority round of the Mobile Black Spot Program those opposite committed to 125 mobile locations, of which 124 were in Liberal and National seats. And opposition senators in this place have the gall to ask questions about the propriety of the Albanese-Labor government's program to address black spots created and exacerbated under their watch. At the time, the coalition had the benefit of being in government and could have run a competitive process through the department, but they chose not to. Instead, they committed a staggering 99.2 per cent of priority round funding to their own held electorates.

So you can imagine my surprise and amusement when the member for Braddon in the other place has been advertising his 'plot your blackspot' campaign, criticising poor network coverage and mobile black spots. Those networks were neglected by the member for Braddon and his government at the time. He complains about poor network coverage, a lack of investment he presided over as a member of the previous government. He claims to be a friend of regional and rural Tasmania. In government, he boasted about having the ear of ministers. Clearly he never spoke to them about the failings of their programs in Braddon. Clearly he never advocated for investment in mobile black spot coverage, yet he has no problem criticising our government. He spins the poor decisions of the previous government into a failing of this one. This is a hallmark of the opposition that he is a shadow minister in and it was a hallmark of a government he claimed to actively lobby. But the people of Braddon know this.

People are sick of hypocrisy and spin. People want politicians who just get on with the job. This is what the Albanese-Labor government is doing in delivering on its promises. This starts with programs like the one that addresses mobile black spots. Last night's budget paves the way for the better future that the Albanese-Labor government was elected on. This starts with looking after our regions and supporting the people of Braddon. The budget projected a surplus, a surplus of Labor values. These are values that go right of the heart of addressing the disregard the former government had for Braddon and its people.