Senator SANTORO (3:19 PM) —The contributions of senators opposite has given us a fairly clear indication today of just how the Labor Party would operate should they be given a chance to govern, which I suspect they will not be given for quite a long time.

Senator SANTORO —To use Senator Mackay's words, what they are interested in is microeconomic management. Unlike you, Senator Mackay, through you, Mr Deputy President, this government has confidence in the boards that it appoints, it has confidence in the management that those boards oversee and it goes about the business of government by not interfering. We do not interfere, we do not intervene and we do not go about the business of distorting the good work that government appointed boards do. If we are not confident in them we will replace the chairman or replace the personnel and we will move on with business. Telstra goes about servicing the legitimate telecommunications needs of Australians, particularly in rural and regional Australia, and it earns dividends for the government—dividends that the Labor Party would like to get their hands on to squander. What we have done in government, for example, is reduce the huge amount of debt that the Labor Party, the now discredited Hawke-Keating government, left behind for us to clean up.

We unashamedly support competition and we unashamedly support the operation of the market, but we also acknowledge that the competitor market does have some limitations. To overcome the limitations of the market the Howard government is supporting competitive outcomes with regulated consumer safeguards and targeted government funding. In a speech to a CEDA conference in May, the former minister said that the government believed this would achieve the best outcomes not only for the industry but also for all Australians. It is perfectly plain, and it should be to those opposite, that the Howard government is not going to divert from this basic policy framework.

The Australian telecommunications market has dramatically changed since it was opened up in 1997, and we heard that throughout the recent inquiry. A study conducted by the Allen Consulting Group on behalf of the Australian Government Communications Authority found that `competition resulted in consumer benefits of between $330 and $1,028 per household in 2002-02'. There you have real and sustainable consumer benefits. The consultants also found that the introduction of competition accounted for increased small business profits of $1.7 billion. Presumably senators opposite would want those particular benefits to remain with small businesses. The study found that that had resulted in 54,000 additional jobs and $12 billion worth of growth in the Australian economy. Again, these are very real and quantifiable benefits that we do not hear senators opposite acknowledge.

Only this month the government announced that telecommunications consumers will have stronger representation as a result of grants totalling $700,000 to 28 consumer organisations. The grants will ensure that the needs and interests of consumers are represented in the development of telecommunications industry codes and practices. A new feature of the grants for 2004-05 is the allocation of sitting fees to all members of the Australian Communications Industry Forum Consumer Advisory Council and the ACIF Disability Advisory Board. This funding means that consumer bodies who want to participate in the self-regulatory process in telecommunications have sufficient and appropriate financial support. Funds are also to be allocated for the representation of consumers in regional areas and consumers with disabilities. The peak representative organisations for residential and small business consumers, the Consumers Telecommunication Network, and small enterprise telecommunications centres will also receive funding. This will help them to employ staff with expertise and experience in telecommunications and representation for the long-term benefit of consumers. Organisations representing consumers with disabilities, including the Telecommunications and Disability Consumers Representation, Australian Association of the Deaf, Deafness Forum Australia and Women with Disabilities Australia, have also been allocated funds.

Under the Telecommunications Act 1997 the Howard government has allocated $4.6 million to consumer bodies for representation since 1998. What these particular figures and the government initiatives clearly show is that the Howard government is very committed to taking on the concerns of consumers and of the organisations that represent consumers, particularly those organisations that represent consumers with disabilities and those who may be disadvantaged by the tyranny of distance as a result of the size of our country. What really worries me during these debates is that you hear senators opposite and opposition members in the other place simply refusing to acknowledge the great benefit that has resulted from the deregulation of the telecommunications market as well as the great work that Telstra does. We are not into microeconomic management of the way Telstra goes about its business; we are all about delivering real benefits. (Time expired)