Dr WEBSTER (Mallee) (16:39): I rise to call out this government's abysmal failure to address the fallout of the 3G shutdown 12 months ago, despite a Senate inquiry and two reports about a multitude of issues. When I'm travelling regional Australia, one of the first things people want to discuss is how their mobile phone reception has deteriorated since the shutdown, and that is deterioration from a very low bar. The 3G network was shut down by telecommunications carriers for commercial reasons, yet the Albanese government relied on the assurances of these same commercial operators that they would ensure equivalent mobile coverage post shutdown. The Labor government's response to the final report of the inquiry into the 3G shutdown, released under the cover of Senate estimates, was lazy and noncommittal, failing to acknowledge the issues or agree to any new actions. We still don't know how many new mobile-phone black spots were created by the botched shutdown.

Regional Australians are sick of being left behind. While the Prime Minister's favourite line is 'nobody held back, no-one left behind', every regional Australian knows he doesn't mean it.

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