Shadow Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories - Shadow Minister for Regional Communications - Transcript - Interview Vanessa Mills, ABC Kimberley WA - 8 December 2025

DR ANNE WEBSTER MP

SHADOW MINISTER FOR REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TERRITORIES

SHADOW MINISTER FOR REGIONAL COMMUNICATIONS

FEDERAL MEMBER FOR MALLEE

TRANSCRIPT

SUMMARY: Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation (UOMO), satellite connectivity, Regional Telecommunications Independent Review Committee (RTIRC) recommendations, universal service obligation, NBN

MILLS: 

From December next year, phone companies will have some new rules to adhere to under the new Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligations, UOMO, basically making some form of mobile coverage mandatory across remote Australia. When I spoke to Anika Wells the Federal Communications Minister, about the laws going through the lower house, it wasn't clear, however, that the telcos had the technology ready to do it.

WELLS: 

Well, uh, the direct-to-device technology, uh, three major telcos in Australia have indicated that they're pursuing that. Telstra has direct-to-device sms service available. Optus and TPG have announced plans to introduce it - all of them anticipate introducing both sms and voice services. I think our announcement of the UOMO signalled to LEOsat providers that Australia wants them to deliver D2D services in Australia. Obviously, we will work with industry to make sure that security and data and privacy considerations continue to be a priority for everybody under the laws that already exist in that space here in Australia.

MILLS: 

Will the telcos have to share the low earth orbit satellites like they do phone towers?

WELLS: 

I think at the moment they are working with providers of LEOsat technology, you know, in their own contracts. I think Optus has said they're going to explore doing it themselves. But certainly because this is also emerging, that particular problem is a fair way away from happening.

MILLS: 

Will it matter what provider they're using?

WELLS: 

While obviously no infrastructure is 100% resilient, UOMO is going to provide vital sms and voice mobile connectivity in 70 per cent of the continent where there previously was none at all.

MILLS: 

That is Federal Communications Minister Anika Wells a few weeks ago on ABC Kimberley Breakfast, the Shadow Minister for Regional Communications and Regional Development, Nationals MP Anne Webster, says the phone laws are being rushed through.

WEBSTER: 

While the universal outdoor mobile obligation sounds great, the fact of the matter is that the Labor Government are seeking to push through legislation, it's been introduced in the lower house, it will come back for debate early next year, and I will certainly participate in that debate when we don't have the technology. So we're in a period now where technology is emerging at the rate of knots, but the fact is that the technology is not actually there. If you are only, as a government, if we are only implementing something that you need to be in an open paddock with no trees, no clouds, certainly no buildings and no roofs - no roof on your car - in order to connect that text message, that is problematic and there is certainly no voice activation and what we need is direct-to-device voice activation. And the technology is not there. So how can you pass legislation right now when that technology is not present? We are clearly in a place where we need multiple varieties of technology in order to have everybody be able to engage.

MILLS: 

Do you have any concerns that at the moment the lion's share of business and technology is based with Elon Musk's Starlink?

WEBSTER:

Yeah look I think - put the person aside in my view - he has been extraordinary in terms of the things that he has developed. I did watch a video of him a couple of days ago talking about fact that satellites, while they're exciting, and let's remember it's his development, while they're exciting and they can do wonderful things or they, you know, potentially can do wonderful things for us on Earth when we're trying to connect, he says they cannot work, the physics is against us. They cannot work where there are lots of people. So it's not going to work in cities. So this is a solution, potentially, we're not there yet, but it can be a solution for those of us who live out in the regions. It is incredibly expensive and we don't have the framework to understand how this is all going to work. We're still looking at mobile black spot funding for towers to be put up, which feel a bit anachronistic, frankly, right now.

MILLS: 

Do you think, though, that the Liberal government, when it was in power, should have done more to make the NBN system a little more flexible, a little more robust and a lot more connected?

WEBSTER: 

Well, yes. The NBN needed a lot more investment from the promises that were made way back when, I believe under Malcolm Turnbull, but correct me if I'm wrong, I wasn't in Parliament at that time. The NBN and the data that is needed now is clearly a solution for many. But, you know, again, NBN, fibre to the premises, which is the optimal outcome that everybody would like, is not going to happen out in the regions of Western Australia or Northern Territory. It's just, you know, how's that going to work? So I, in opposition, what we can do is ask the questions. What we can do is develop our own policies, of course, which is what we are doing, and respond to things like the RTIRC report and recommendations who called for the USO, the Universal Service Obligation, which currently sits with copper, just to remind your listeners, currently sits with copper wires, you know, landlines, those old things, and pay phones, which are also pretty well in the past. That is where the universal service obligations rest with Telstra at the moment. And they're paid, you know, $120 million from memory to have that obligation complete. Now we need mobile phones as part of that that universal service obligation. Question is: how is it going to be delivered? So the RTIRC report said that needs to be expedited. So it needs to happen yesterday. The RTIRC report also called for the ACCC to conduct an inquiry into mandatory domestic roaming. I personally think this is a critical factor.

MILLS: 

Should, in fact, though, the federal government, which is currently Labor and previously it was the Liberal Coalition, should both those governments have acted far more quickly to update the universal service obligation? Mobile phones have been around for a very long time. Lack of connectivity in the bush has been around for a very long time. NBN, Skymuster hasn't delivered the connectivity that it was promised under Malcolm Turnbull. Should both governments have in fact acted far more quickly than providing an updated piece of legislation that's only going to come into effect in December 2026?

WEBSTER: 

Well, and what's it going to do when it comes in would be the other part I'd ask there, Vanessa. I think, look, under the Coalition, we certainly expended a lot more funds into the mobile black spot funding, which are the towers. My problem with the towers is that you've got a seven kilometre radius from each tower and each tower can cost a million to $1-2 million now to build. There is less passion, shall we say, amongst the telcos to put money towards those towers. The government has historically partnered with telcos to ensure those towers are built. The other constraint that we have is that technology has just not got there yet. That would be certainly my defence while we were in government up to 2022. You can only go so far as technology is actually going. So the lowest orbit satellites, they certainly are going to hopefully continue to expand in their usefulness to us in a direct-to-device technology, but we're not there yet. So that's my hesitation with UOMO, is how are we going to support a legislation about something we don't even know is going to be in place?

MILLS: 

That's Anne Webster, the Shadow Minister for Regional Communications and Development and a Nationals MP, on the new Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation Laws

‍