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Thursday 21 June 2007

Protecting the Communications Fund from the Labor drain

Legislation to protect the $2 billion Communications Fund will be introduced into Parliament today, the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts Senator Helen Coonan said.

The Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Protecting Services for Rural and Regional Australia into the Future) Bill will ensure that regional Australia’s perpetual
$2 billion Communications Fund cannot be pillaged.

“This Bill protects in legislation the $2 billion principal of the Communications Fund so that only the interest earned from the Fund, up to $400 million every three years, can be spent.

“It will also provide certainty for people in regional and remote Australia that the improvements in their telecommunications services will keep pace with the rest of the nation.

“Labor has committed to drain the entire $2 billion from the Communications Fund, rob the bush of its ongoing funding, and squander it on a commercially viable network estimated to reach around 75 per cent of the population.

“The remaining 25 per cent of the population in rural and regional areas will be stranded without any future service upgrades under Labor. Ironically it is the 25 per cent of consumers in rural and regional Australia that the Communications Fund was established to protect that the Labor Party will abandon if elected.

“And not content with pillaging the Communications Fund, Labor has also promised to grab a further $2.7 billion from the Future Fund, for a total of $4.7 billion to waste on a broadband network that the industry says it will fund itself,” Senator Coonan said.

The passage of this Bill through Parliament will protect rural and regional Australia from the gross economic irresponsibility of the Labor Party.

“Taxpayer funds should be used to deliver equity in underserved areas and ensure regional and rural Australians are not left behind in the ongoing telecommunications technology revolution,” Senator Coonan said.

“The Communications Fund was established by the Government in 2005 and provides a guaranteed income stream to fund hard infrastructure for regional communities such as additional mobile towers, broadband provision and even backhaul fibre capabilities.

“Interest earned from the Communications Fund is used to implement the Government’s responses to recommendations made by the triennial independent regional telecommunications review.

“The Government will shortly announce the formation of the next independent committee with the inquiry to get underway this year.”

Senator Coonan again called on the Labor Party to come clean with full and proper detail on their broadband plan.

“It has been 90 days since the Labor Party put out their proposal and still no detail has been provided.

“I repeat my clear challenge to Mr Rudd and the Labor Party to provide the costings, coverage maps and technical information about their broadband proposal for the full scrutiny of the Australian public.

“All details of the Government’s new national broadband network are in the public domain but we’ve heard nothing but rhetoric from the Labor Party since their media announcement months ago.

“It’s clear Labor don’t have a genuine broadband strategy for Australians beyond our major capital cities. Their plan has no detail, no technical backing and no plan for the 25 per cent of the population that Labor will leave stranded without a service.”

Ends.