Senator the Hon Bridget McKenzie
Minister for Regional Communications
I would like to begin by acknowledging the
traditional custodians of the land and pay my
respects to Elders past, present and emerging.
Thank you Kevin for that and Grahame, I know was
also one of the ones who invited me. I know he is
very excited at the moment, waiting for some good
news hopefully from home.
I would also like to acknowledge the new interim CEO
of the Australian Space Agency Megan Clark as well
as the vice president of Optus Satellite, Paul
Sheridan, who is the lead supporter of this event.
It's my great pleasure to be amongst you this
morning.
I am the Deputy Leader of the National Party and a
proud country Victorian with strong links to the
land.
To be the Minister for Regional Communications,
which I believe is going to be the way we are going
to transform my communities, my industries and the
people who I was elected to parliament to represent,
cannot be underestimated and your role in that, as
you are seeing every single day, is pivotal and
fundamental.
Being able to access reliable and effective
communications is now essential to everyday life.
It is both a social and economic imperative for all
Australians to have access to the 21st century
communications that will enable them to fully
participate in the digital world.
You may run a cattle station in Cape York, home
school your kids in the Pilbara, farm salmon off
Bruny Island or be an artist in Arnhem Land.
Regardless of where you live and work, each and
every Australian, as a fundamental right of their
citizenship should be able to connect and be
connected.
In Australia, and I don't need to tell you this,
there are some unique challenges with connecting
Australians.
We know that we have a vast land mass, and a very
low population density. 3.2 people per square
kilometre compared to 18 in NZ, 35 in the US and 271
in the UK—and we know we are one of most urbanised
nations in the world.
And therefore, connecting Australians has always
been a challenge and has always seen Government play
a part in that.
The National Broadband Network is our nation's
largest infrastructure project.
When we came to Government, as a Coalition, we
prioritised the rollout of the NBN in rural and
regional Australia, and I am pleased to say now that
87% of the regions are now connected to the NBN.
The government is investing around $2.1 billion to
provide fixed wireless services in regions across
Australia as well as fixed line NBN services to
2.5 million premises outside major urban areas.
We also, as a Government, saw the opportunities for
other technologies to play a role in connecting
Australians. That's why we have invested $1.9
billion to deliver NBN Co's satellite network to
connect the most difficult to reach places in
Australia.
Supplementing Australian's love of being
connected—we seem to have adopted the mobile phone
like no other nation on earth—we have seen the roll
out of the Mobile Black Spot Program, which on the
back of the Government's $220 million we have seen
over $680 million invested into regional
telecommunication base stations, which will cover
more than 95,000 square kilometres of new and
upgraded handheld coverage, more than 204,000 square
kilometres of new external antenna coverage and over
8,000 kilometres of new coverage to transport
routes.
So it's not just about running a business, it's not
just about being able to stay connected to family
and friends, but bushfires, cyclones, floods,
typically occur in regional Australia. So its very,
very important for us to be safe and have access to
our emergency service providers.
114 Telstra round 1 base stations have been
operating for over a year and connected more than
14,000 Triple Zero emergency calls.
I always find it amusing when the Labor Party and
our competitors talk a big game about regional
connectivity. It's useful to note that the Labor
Party has never made regional Australian a priority.
They have never put up a Mobile Black Spot Program.
They were rolling out the NBN as a competitor to
existing broadband services in capital cities. It's
all very good and well to talk a big game, but when
the rubber hits the road, they are nowhere to be
seen in connecting regional Australians.
And it's a huge and a significant achievement of our
Government—and one that I am very proud of.
Broadband connectivity helps overcome the tyranny of
distance when it comes to essential services like
health, education and banking.
It also helps break down the isolation and helps us
connect with family and friends, and businesses in
the regions have now got the capacity to grow and
expand, and truly compete on both domestic and
global markets.
In all of this, your industry, satellite technology
has a vital and evolving role to play.
As you all would be aware, Australia has been an
early adopter of satellite technology.
In 1967, we launched our very own first satellite
from Woomera in South Australia.
In 1979, the Australian Government created AUSSAT,
one of the first national satellite communications
systems in the world, which is credited with greatly
improving our outback communications.
We are very, very good at producing some really,
really smart people in this space for a long, long
period of time. I would like to see more of them
stay at home, but that means we are going to have to
actually get some opportunities for them to stay at
home.
Satellite competition has continued to grow over the
years with other providers using low orbit,
geostationary and leased satellites to deliver
voice, broadband and Pay TV services in Australia.
The first broadband optimised Sky Muster satellite
was launched in October 2015 and it was followed a
year later by Sky Muster II, which provides extra
capacity.
This is a significant and notable achievement, as
remote Australians were, for the first time able to
access services that others have taken for granted.
To date, over 88,000 satellite dishes have been
installed and are providing these homes and
businesses with access to fast broadband.
There are more than 428,000 premises in the
satellite footprint that are 'ready to connect'.
After the challenges of the early years of the Sky
Muster service in the regions, the Coalition was
quick to address the performance and customer
service issues being raised. As a result those
services have been significantly improved.
Some 98 per cent of Sky Muster installations are now
complete within contractual timeframes, with the
average wait to connect at nine calendar days.
In October last year, NBN Co increased data
allowances by using spectrum more efficiently which
increased the overall capacity of the satellites.
NBN Co doubled the maximum wholesale data limits for
its satellite services and increased average peak
data downloads by 50 per cent.
This additional bandwidth has enabled retailers to
significantly increase data caps on Sky Muster
plans. A quick market scan shows retailers passed on
additional data at minimal cost to consumers.
Today, all of the evidence tells us that Sky Muster
is making a revolutionary difference to thousands of
people living, working and visiting regional and
remote Australia.
I have spoken to people on the ground about the
impact satellite technology is having on distance
education. Teachers and students say the main change
in classrooms is having access to more data—which
totally changes the way teachers are connecting with
their students.
They now have four times more data making a very
different experience for their students for those
'on air' lessons. The ability to research materials,
and things we take for granted when we are in
schools in capital cities or towns, being able to
see your teacher and classmates and having a true
educative experience is the power that that
additional data delivers to these young Australians.
In a significantly small South Australian town,
Lyndhurst—population roughly 10—local roadhouse
owner Tammy Roach says she did 'the happy dance'
when the NBN arrived.
Tammy said having Sky Muster has dramatically
changed their lives. Before the NBN her internet
service was pretty much non-existent and they had
frequent drop outs. It was really slow. Since being
connected she said it has opened up a whole world.
I mean, it is transforming people's industries,
their businesses and indeed their lives. I just
don't think we can underestimate its impact.
Living in remote communities can be isolating. I
also am the Rural Health Minister and over January I
headed out and visited Broken Hill and was speaking
to the Royal Flying Doctor Service, which is using
this connectivity to deliver health services to
really remote Australians in new and interesting
ways. Being able to hook up to a station owner at
3am in the morning, using telehealth to speak to a
psychologist to stop him taking his own life until
physical services can arrive the next day. That is
the power of this technology, for the first time in
our federation, has been able to deliver.
Yes we are getting economic benefits, yes we can
keep people safe and educate children, but we are
saving people's lives as a result of this increased
connectivity, and that cannot be underestimated, the
power of that.
NBN recently released a report showing the impact
the NBN has had on productivity and as a tool for
innovation in Australia. Data from the 2016 census
shows business growth has accelerated at more than
twice the annual pace, and five times the pace of
regions without the NBN network connected.
So the potential that having this connectivity has
given those regional communities, industries and
businesses again, is sort of this unanticipated
consequence of providing this infrastructure.
Women are harnessing the opportunities of the NBN
and we have seen them uptake and self-employ at
rates unheard of.
Australia is expected to move from being one of the
bottom 10 OECD countries in terms of internet
equality to being one of the top 10 by 2021 when the
rollout is complete.
So, I guess, you and I know that the rate of
technological change is exponential in this space,
so measuring it now, we don't almost know what's
going to be around in 2021.
I think we need to appreciate that pace of change
and the investment that Government and your industry
and other industries have made, particularly the
last six years, needs to really be assessed to
ascertain—what has the impact been, and where is the
next opportunity, the low hanging fruit if you like,
and the next role of Government to invest in.
Another couple of examples of being connected using
the Mobile Black Spot Program—workers at the
Barmount Feedlot near Clarke Creek in Queensland can
now access market reports and other information
remotely rather than needing to travel back to the
office.
Before I was promoted I did a Senate enquiry into
the lack of competition in the beef processing
sector, which really impacted farmers' take home
price of the cattle they were putting into sale
yards.
Now if you are able to access sale yard data right
there and then, you are much more able to pay a
realistic price for that beast on the ground and
having to use old technology.
Today, they can do what others around the country
take for granted—and that's staying connected with
family and friends.
Under the second round of funding, Optus is
installing 49 satellite small cell base stations
across remote and very remote Australia.
These small cells base station options are
increasingly popular as we roll this footprint out
and we are needing much more specific and targeted
responses to the lack of connectivity.
Like roadhouses on remote highways, visitor centres
in national parks, ranger stations and tourist
attractions, there is an expectation that that
connectivity will be available.
Three of the small cells were recently activated in
the Karijini National Park in remote Western
Australia ahead of the annual Karijini Experience
Festival.
For the very first time, attendees at this festival
and organisers were able to share and promote
festival experiences via social media because of
satellite technology.
To date 32 of the 49 small cell base stations have
already been installed and they are seeing strong
traffic.
I recently announced a Regional Telecommunications
Review and I would encourage you all to get involved
in this review.
This is a statutory review which was due by the end
of this year, but due to the rate of our roll out
and the significant investment we have made, I
bought it forward to the first half of this year. I,
as Minister for Regional Communications need to
understand the change in landscape and I also need
to understand what's next for Government investment.
I don't think it's going to look like it has in the
past.
We have made a massive investment as I have
outlined. We still have another 400 towers to roll
out. Last decade, CDMA was the norm and dial-up
internet in the regions, if you were lucky, was all
you had.
We forget that, that was a very real experience for
most regional Australians six years ago.
Now look at us. 3G, 4G and people are talking 5G.
We have been able to use and harness the investment
Government, your industry and telcos have made, to
unlock new potential that we hadn't envisaged. So in
light of that, before we complete the other 400 base
stations by the end of the year, it's timely to have
a look at the footprint.
We have six members are on this independent review.
Other than writing their terms of reference, I can't
really direct them anymore, so I am asking you to
get involved and let them know what the
opportunities are given your industry perspective.
They will be looking at the comparison between the
regional and urban experience in telecommunications.
I have also tasked them to look at new technologies
and the social and economic benefits of the
technology we have already rolled out and where that
future potential may be.
In terms of Budget 2018, I spent last week out on
the road talking rural health, but there were some
great announcements for this space.
There's no question the satellite and space
industries are growing rapidly and it's crucial
Australia remains one of the global players. Not
just by producing people with the smarts, but by
investing here at home—when we found out New Zealand
is doing it, nothing spurs us on more than that.
The global space market is worth US$345 billion and
we want Australian businesses to be able to win a
greater share of it.
That's why, in this year's Budget, the Coalition
committed more than $300 million to the sector.
We will establish the first Australian Space Agency
with $41 million funding over the next four years.
And we are investing more that $260 million to
develop world-leading core satellite infrastructure
and technologies.
This will ultimately mean better GPS for Australian
businesses and regional Australians and improved
access to satellite imagery.
A Satellite-Based Augmentation System will improve
the reliability and accuracy of positioning data
from five metres to 10 centimetres.
For position agriculture, that's fantastic. For a
future automation in food processing—we struggle to
get these skillsets out in the regions. We produce a
great commodity and then we send it overseas for
someone to do the value-add. This will allow us to
overcome some of those barriers to growing our local
economies and value adding to our existing products
like never before.
The additional National Positioning Infrastructure
Capability will enable the system to improve GPS to
an accuracy as precise as 3 centimetres in areas of
Australia with access to mobile coverage. That's
phenomenal and I am so excited about what
particularly our agriculture and mining industries
will be able to do as a result of this leap in
capacity.
This world-class technology will mean improved
safety for aircraft flying including the Royal
Flying Doctor Service fleet.
And virtual fencing, there are some great things on
the market with some of the start-ups. Does anyone
own a dog that doesn't stay inside its fence? You
know those collars? You can get them for cattle now,
anyway, it'll be great, this technology. Farmers
won't have to fence any more.
Another thing coming up this year that is incredibly
important and that I will appreciate your
perspective on going forward, is the universal
service obligation. It has been a long-standing
mechanism in this country and as I have said
earlier—government in Australia, because of our land
mass and small population has always had a role in
ensuring Australians are connected. Whether it is
the Australia Post Act 1901, or indeed our
telecommunications legislation, Government has
always had a role to play in this.
But it's my firm belief that the USO is no longer
fit-for-purpose in 21st Century Australia.
Last year, the Productivity Commission concluded the
USO was 'anachronistic and costly' and recommended
it be wound back following completion of the NBN in
2020.
USO reform is complex, and a large body of work is
underway within Government to find reasonable,
cost-effective alternatives.
As a first step, the Government has announced plans
to develop a new Universal Service Guarantee—one
that better reflects how the marketplace has changed
and is adaptable to its future evolution.
Under the new guarantee, 100 per cent of Australian
premises will have access to voice and next
generation broadband services. This includes
regional, rural and remote locations.
This will be a first. We have always had the
guarantee to a postal service under law, now we need
to have access to 21st century telecommunications to
allow us to grow and compete and stay connected.
Many people in regional, rural and remote Australia
are open to technological change but need to be
assured that new options will still deliver reliable
and affordable voice services.
That is why the Coalition is taking a careful and
vigilant approach to USO reform. We will not change
the current delivery mechanisms unless there are
clear, acceptable and more cost-effective
alternatives.
Satellite technology may appear to be the obvious
solution to bridge that voice divide, but current
thinking suggests it is not fully viable due to
latency and reliability during rainy weather. So
there is something to work on, on the front end.
For the time being, these concerns mean Sky Muster
is not seen as a platform for voice delivery under
the new Guarantee.
We are still keen to hear more from the satellite
sector including any developments that may be able
to overcome the challenge of providing affordable
and reliable voice services in remote locations.
We are aiming to have the new Universal Service
Guarantee in place for the completion of the NBN in
2020, so now is the time to be having those
conversations.
Even if satellite technology is not the immediate
solution, it may well prove to be the answer for
tomorrow.
To this end, this Coalition and the National Party
are looking to develop a dynamic Guarantee that is
able to accommodate new and better solutions should
they emerge, because we know they will.
We do not want a guarantee that's locked in stone in
a 2020 version of what's top notch technology. We
want it to be adaptable and responsive to the rate
of change and the exponential opportunities that we
can see coming in this space over the coming
decades.
I look forward to working with you all to make sure
all Australians have access to the tools they need,
to not just take advantage of all the opportunities
this sector provides, but to also overcome the
challenges.
I have every confidence that your industry, the
satellite industry, will continue to have a key role
in connecting all Australians as well as maintaining
a global presence, which I hope we can grow as we
roll out those initiatives, and that we harness all
the opportunities a digital economy can provide, not
just for those in capital cities, but right across
our nation
Thank you.
ENDS