Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Triple Zero Custodian and Emergency Calling Powers) Bill 2025

Senator HANSON-YOUNG (South Australia—Manager of Australian Greens Business in the Senate) (18:30): Since we moved these amendments, it seems the government has seen sense—that increasing the penalties on these big telecommunications companies should happen in this bill—and I welcome that from the government. In order to facilitate that, I will be withdrawing these amendments, and I have circulated a new amendment which increases the fines for the big telecommunications companies to $30 million.

Now, I want to say right at the beginning that I still think it should be more. I still think these big companies deserve everything we can give them. But the government has agreed to increase the penalties to $30 million and support this Greens amendment, and so, in the spirit of trying to get things done and improving this piece of legislation, we will take that as a step forward.

I also understand that the minister today has written to the regulator, informing them that they will be issued with a direction in relation to the register, which of course is one of the issues that both the Greens and the coalition were concerned about. This is a public register so that, when there are outages, the public knows, because it's quite clear that, if they had their way, Optus and their executives would continue to hide this stuff from public view.

If we're going to have a custodian in the department to oversee the outages, to oversee the triple 0 system, then the public, too, should be informed of what's going on. So we welcome that, but we will be keeping a very close eye on ensuring that this happens. Of course, this is just one piece of legislation that the government need to get through this place in order to move on the recommendations that they had previously promised after the Bean review.

There's the custodian one, and there's another piece of legislation that hasn't come down from the House yet. We look forward to looking at that piece of legislation, with a view to putting further restrictions and accountability measures on the telecommunications companies. I want to say at the outset what a debacle this whole process has been.

Optus thought that they could get away with a shoddy system that not only let Australians down but meant that mothers and fathers who needed to call an ambulance when their children were sick could not get through and that elderly Australians, desperate for help after they had fallen on the bathroom floor, couldn't call an ambulance. This is not good enough. That is why this piece of legislation, with increased penalties and further measures, is needed.

And it's why, tomorrow, I hope to see this place establish the inquiry into Optus, into the failures and the disaster that Optus has overseen, and, frankly, into the failures of the regulator themselves, because, as we've heard over and over again, it's not just Optus that failed; the regulator failed too. With your indulgence, Chair, I would like to seek leave to withdraw the amendments on sheet 3456.

The TEMPORARY CHAIR ( Senator Grogan ): I'll just clarify a point, Senator Hanson-Young. Is that amendments (1) and (2)? Senator HANSON-YOUNG: Yes, together.

Leave granted. Senator HANSON-YOUNG: I now move the amendment on sheet 3467, which will increase penalties on the big telecommunication companies to $30 million, which is the very least they deserve for such failure: (1)—Schedule 1, page 19 (after line 9), at the end of the Schedule, add: Part 4 — Increased civil penalties Telecommunications Act 1997 18 After paragraph 570(3)(ac) Insert: (ad) in the case of a contravention of subsection 148(1) or (3) of the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999—$30 million for each contravention; or (ae) in the case of a contravention of subsection 151D(1) or (2) of the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999—$30 million for each contravention; or