Mr OAKESHOTT (1:41 PM) —I welcome the opportunity to talk on what is the most important policy area that this parliament will deal with over the next three years and, I suspect, in all our time in this parliament. I start with the following quote:

I said that in 2008, in my first speech to this parliament, and it was said in the context of NBN not even being a concept that was invented. The term at the time was ICT—information and communication technology. The point, however, is exactly the same. Despite on the weekend many changed circumstances in politics at a state level and despite the many changed circumstances in this parliament—a tight parliament where every vote now matters and there are lots of people now listening to what the crossbenchers do or think—my values are exactly the same. The issues that I am working on are exactly the same. Information and communication technology is in vital need of improvement in regional and rural Australia—if it is now branded by the term NBN, the National Broadband Network, then bring it on. That has not changed and should not change, and I would hope everyone in this chamber is supportive of that basic concept of seeing improvements.

This is an important part of the agreement reached with government over the last six months. I hope that they continue to deliver on this important rollout. There has been some debate over the last 48 hours that I will come to about uniform pricing. But it is important that this happens, and I am comfortable with the fact that we have recalled the parliament to get the job done. I note the arguments about process that the member for Bradfield and the member for Sturt, who is the chamber, raised. But I also go back to the point that the member for Sturt used in his speech on this very legislation, and that is that when this first came through a deal was done between the two major parties to rush it through the lower house on commercial grounds. It does not cut it, therefore, that on the way back they want to use a process argument. If a lesson should be learnt from this it is that we should deal with things upfront with due process without deals being done behind the chair. That would allow us to work through the many issues involved in these kinds of things. A deal was done involving the coalition and that went wrong and we have all had to work hard over the weekend to make things happen.

I also pick up the comment by the member for Bradfield, who gave a ringing endorsement of the work of the Independent senator, Nick Xenophon, in working through the many issues involved in dealing with this legislation. In light of the weekend and in light of two months in which there has been enormous criticism from the coalition with regard to the worth of Independents in areas like mine, it was a pleasure—and it was certainly appreciated—to hear a Liberal member of parliament talking the truth. Every member of parliament, regardless of their political persuasion, can and should play a role in this chamber. Last week, Senator Xenophon was an example of that. I was pleased to see the courage shown in this chamber by the member for Bradfield in endorsing the work done by those members and senators not within the Liberal Party. We all need to look after each other in promoting the role that members of parliament play. While politics has its place in winning the ballot box, I hope that we do not go down the path in this country of dragging the profession down. We are at a point in time when there is a great danger of division winning out over any particular outcomes that are in the national interest. So I thank the member for Bradfield for endorsing the role that all members of parliament and, in this case, Senator Nick Xenophon, can play.

I also want to acknowledge the contribution of the member for Cowper, who until now has been absolutely critical of everything to do with the National Broadband Network—even though Coffs Harbour, in his electorate, was one of the first roll-out sites. He has been merciless in kicking everything about the National Broadband Network. I was therefore thrilled today to hear his contribution—despite some of the inconsistencies, with the NBN still being called a white elephant—focus on the policy detail around uniform pricing and equity of pricing. He even went to the point of putting forward an amendment to try and lock in equity of pricing as a key principle for regional and rural Australia. Halleluiah! It is a breakthrough that we are now seeing members of the National Party coming to the party and recognising the importance of ICT and the National Broadband Network in improving the lives of all Australians. I welcome that and will consider his amendment on its merits. If nothing changes, I hope to support that amendment that has been put before the House.

Going to some of the many amendments put during last Thursday and the Friday in the Senate, I want to endorse the work of Senator Xenophon. Important changes have been put into the legislation, such as making sure that limited price discrimination takes place and that differential pricing to different carriers is handled. Points about interconnectedness were put forward and there has been a vetoing of that power throughout the legislation, with the referral of those issues to the ACCC. I note that Telstra has some concerns about that, which only says to me that this is not just a dirty little backroom deal between Telstra and government and that there are amendments that have been picked up by the Senate that make sure that this rollout is in the community’s best interests, not just Telstra’s best interests. That is a sensible amendment that has been accepted by the Senate.

The overall review of NBN Co. generally to make sure that there is no abuse of power and giving the ACCC more power to do with the bundling of services are important oversight amendments that will work for the community and consumers. Bundling is a story that government has not sold as well as it should have. Bundling is a key component of what we are talking about with regard to why we are doing what we are doing. This has been lost in the wash of cost-of-living pressures and electricity prices and potentially more costs in terms of the use of computer and internet services. I ask the community to reflect on the concept of bundling and for people to start to look at all their bills together and start to roll them into the one bill. Hopefully, that will help make the point that an NBN rollout will allow you to bundle all of those services into the one bill that is substantially cheaper than the sum of all the individual bills. I ask people to reflect more on this concept of bundling, and I ask government to, in it own interests, sell the concept of bundling a lot better than it has done in the past.

I also am accepting of the amendment with regard to cross-subsidisation, so that it is only allowed for the purposes of achieving uniform national pricing across geography. This uniform pricing was a key element, and it remains a key element, of the agreement with government on behalf of the member for New England and me. This uniform pricing at a wholesale level, within technology, is an important commitment that has been made. I do note that the government has consistently stated that its policy is for uniform national wholesale pricing for the services over the NBN, and that NBN Co. will be delivering a 12 megabits per second service to all Australians at the same wholesale price of $24 regardless of location or technology. That is an important commitment that has been made by government. I know there have been some attempts over the last week or two to try and muddy that water, and try and imply that there has been a breach of an agreement. But, on all the evidence I have, on all the communication I have with government, that agreement sticks. I think for regional and rural Australia that is a significant result in how we deliver ICT improvements and how we as a country start to engage all Australians in innovation, entrepreneurship and opportunities for the better delivery of a whole range of government services, whether education, health or you name it.

So this policy of a uniform national wholesale price over the NBN is explicit in the government’s commitment to regional Australia of 7 September last year. And it does put in place a cross-subsidy to achieve uniform national wholesale pricing, so people in regional areas can pay the same price as people in the city. As that statement said, for the first time wholesale broadband prices will be the same for households and businesses regardless of where they are located. That is a significant change for Australia. It does beg the political question: why on earth has it not happened before? No other government has made such a substantial commitment. No other agreement has ever been able to be reached in that regard to new telecommunications services to all Australians, as far as I am aware of, going back to the 1940s. So the government’s policy on uniformity of wholesale prices is manifested in commercial decisions made by NBN Co. and is reflected in its corporate plan, by other policy decisions made by government, by advice and regulatory decisions made by the ACCC to implement the policy—and in the NBN access bill before the parliament right now. It is explicit, it is now being codified, it is being delivered. I think that is a substantial outcome for regional Australia and one that I hope is acknowledged by all members in this chamber.

There is an issue of dispute about future technologies—I acknowledge that. I think there are going to be some amendments put forward, again by the coalition, that I will look at in that regard. But, currently, technology and practical constraints do mean that the wireless and satellite networks are limited to the entry-level point of 12 megabits per second downlink and one megabit uplink. The next generation wireless and satellite technologies used to deliver these services to the last seven per cent of Australians represent a step-change in broadband technology over what is presently available in regional and rural Australia and are at the threshold of what is operationally feasible for NBN Co. to deploy. However, the statement of expectations clearly sets out the agreement and the expectations for uniform pricing, that NBN Co. will upgrade services over time and demonstrate that the functionality and performance of its services are meeting demand and supporting innovation across all technology platforms. What that means in practice is that higher speeds are operationally feasible. It is intended that they will also be offered at uniform national wholesale prices. Again, that is a commitment that we now have in writing. I think it is going to be mentioned in speeches from government. Again, I will look very closely and hope to support, if there have been no changes, the member for Cowper’s amendment. But I think we do need to make sure everyone sticks to that agreement. Again, I do not see any evidence to suggest there is not; there is intent. I think we are all finding a different way to get there—and I would hope that that intent is honourable, and that the coalition amendment is honourable. If the government do need to accept that, I hope it is not the showstopper that they may argue it is, that we do start to lock down that uniform wholesale pricing, not only for today but into the future as well. (Time expired)