Dr WEBSTER (Mallee) (11:24): It has sadly taken the tragic death of four Australians due to a second Optus triple 0 outage in September for this government to progress this legislation, the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Triple Zero Custodian and Emergency Calling Powers) Bill 2025, today. The Minister for Communications, Anika Wells, told the House yesterday that the Albanese government had implemented most of the Bean review recommendations. I ask the minister to inform the House on record when and by whom those recommendations were implemented. The minister told question time yesterday that the opposition was politicising this issue. When Australian lives are lost and when the Australian government has the regulatory responsibility and falls short of that responsibility, the opposition's job is to hold the government accountable.

Regrettably, under the Albanese Labor government, the mob on that side of the House are full of so much hubris. They don't believe in transparency and accountability; they're too busy enjoying the trappings of office. Such is this government's hubris that yesterday, in question time, the minister had a go at the opposition for not rubberstamping this bill—which they gave to the shadow minister less than 24 hours before. I mean, fancy the shadow minister wanting to consult with colleagues and take it to the party room! What happened to the kinder, friendlier, more transparent parliament? No; not when you've got such a cheer squad on the other side. Labor beats down on the opposition, puts democracy aside and just wants to have its own way. So let me tell you about the forgotten Australians—the collateral damage of this government's hubris.

Rural, regional and remote Australians live a long way from hospitals, police, firefighting and other emergency services, and, for many, a mobile phone is their sole phone service, particularly in remote Indigenous communities. One North Queensland resident explains they cannot make phone calls on their Telstra service—Telstra, not Optus—because it drops out for about 20 seconds every few seconds, even interrupting triple 0 calls. The intermittent signal came, believe it or not, after a system upgrade, but Telstra tells them they need more satellites in the air and maybe it will improve by 2030. That's encouraging! We tried to speak further with this lady from North Queensland this morning and, unsurprisingly, we could not get connection. That's the lived experience in regional Australia under the Albanese Labor government. This is a minister who justifies second-rate services for regional Australians.

A Mallee constituent contacted me and said that they have not been able to contact triple 0 on their Optus service. My office has since not been able to ring them back on their number because, strangely enough, it doesn't connect. Then there's Paula, who was playing golf in early August on the Mornington Peninsula when she experienced heart attack symptoms but could not reach triple 0 on her Optus-affiliate service. She got through to her daughter on Facebook Messenger, who then called the ambulance. Thankfully, Paula survived. At last check, Optus couldn't explain that outage. These are the lived experiences of regional Australians, whose communities have been hollowed out of health and other emergency services under Labor governments, both federal and state.

Regional Australians live a long way from an ambulance station, let alone a hospital and let alone a police station or firefighting services. These are regional Australians who take it upon themselves to look after themselves and to run, for instance, farm firefighting units because they know they are so far from help and they need to be self-reliant. They cannot contact triple 0 during an outage to report that a fire is moving in a certain direction or that they need help stopping an outbreak. How do motorists or Indigenous Australians report a car accident and the need for urgent assistance if triple 0 fails? This is why, as shadow minister for regional communications, I am proposing amendments to this bill to bring specific emphasis to rural, regional and remote Australians.

Enough is enough. Without specific emphasis and reporting on their needs, regional Australians will continue to lose their lives unnecessarily. Labor simply doesn't care about that. We have higher morbidity and mortality rates in regional Australia, and my observation as former shadow assistant minister for regional health is that Labor do not care one iota—nothing has changed in that space. Labor centralises health services. Labor undermines regional health services so that they have to be centralised. Labor guts regions of health professionals, through the DPA, that can save lives and turn regional health care around.

I therefore make no apology as the member for Mallee, proudly representing the Nationals, moving specific amendments and making a specific case for regional Australians. That's my job. That is our job—representing our electorates, our constituents. Let the government go ahead and gag and vote down amendments. It will simply reinforce yet again that the Albanese Labor government sees regional Australians as obstacles at best and invisible at worst.

This brings me to the Triple Zero Custodian. It was recommended by Richard Bean way back in March 2024, and the minister is moving legislation today. She couldn't tell the House yesterday what the custodian has been doing since it was created within the department, and this is where I come back to responsibility. First of all, nothing absolves the Albanese Labor government of its responsibility on triple 0 connectivity and on telecommunications more broadly. The minister in question time yesterday wanted to point the finger at Optus—it's all Optus's fault!—claiming we on this side of the House are letting Optus off the hook. Hardly!

What did former US president George W. Bush famously try to say? 'Fool me once—shame on you. Fool me twice—shame on me.' The Albanese Labor government are on their second time around on triple 0 outages. They had more than fair warning about Optus's shortcomings and, indeed, an independent report recommending the Triple Zero Custodian. Yet it took four tragedies and God knows how many more near misses for the government to come into this place implementing just one recommendation from the 18 in the Bean review.

The minister wants us to rubber-stamp this legislation this week, but is the Triple Zero Custodian the independent body the Bean review recommended? That's a very good question. Does it have sufficient independence from ministerial influence? Is there sufficient transparency and accountability for the Australian public to know what is going on? Does the custodian sits sufficiently outside the control of ACMA, the department and the minister? The recommendation said the custodian should have responsibility. However, we know that ultimately, in our Westminster system of government, responsibility sits squarely with the minister. Thus far, in the telecommunications portfolio, this minister has shown poor leadership in her responsibility.

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