With Victorian Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade the Hon Philip Dalidakis MP, and nbn Chief Information Officer, IT Management & Governance, John McInerney.
9.30am
6 December 2015
nbn National Operations Centre
Melbourne Australia
E & OE
Subjects: nbn jobs announcement
FIFIELD:
Great to be at the National Operations Centre or NOC of the nbn here in Melbourne with my State Ministerial counterpart Phil Dalidakis and also nbn’s Chief Information Officer John McInerney.
nbn is an incredible commitment. The Commonwealth is putting $29.5 billion in equity into the nbn. We are working hard to see the nbn rolled out nationally by 2020.
The nbn as well as being very important for Australian households and businesses is also an important employer. In Victoria we currently have 2,300 employees and today’s announcement, with the support of the Victorian Government to make Melbourne an attractive place for the nbn to do business, will see an additional 700 people employed by nbn in Melbourne.
Also importantly today, we’re announcing that the nbn cyber security centre nationwide will be based here in Melbourne. It is in the Docklands area, but we won’t tell you exactly where it is. Given the importance of the nbn to the nation, the nbn has to have world class cyber security protection. So the nbn cyber security centre will be responsible for identification, triage, management and response to cyber security threats.
The nbn is a massive venture, we are rolling it out as quickly as we possibly can, and because of that very important rollout we will need to increase the number of construction employees from about 4,500 to 9,000 so the nbn has also put in $40 million into skilling up people to come on board to help build the nbn to see it become a reality.
And can I acknowledge the support and contribution again of the Victorian Government and Phil Dalidakis to provide incentives for the nbn to locate jobs here in Victoria. nbn does have a choice, it does have options. And as a Senator for Victoria I’m very pleased that we’ll see additional jobs here.
DALIDAKIS:
So it’s my absolute pleasure to be here with my Federal counterpart Senator Mitch Fifield, who is a great ambassador for Victoria in his role both as the Communications Minister, but also as a Victorian Senator. And so to announce 700 high tech, high skilled, high paying jobs to be located in Melbourne, which will be a 30 per cent increase over and above the nbn’s current workforce. Is a major recognition of the part and the role that Melbourne and Victoria play across both the IT and the Tech sector in Australia.
To have more importantly Australia’s first line of defence, the cyber security centre located here in Melbourne is part of the Daniel Andrews vision for Victoria, to make sure that we create a cyber hub that is unparalleled across the Country, and rivals the best of locations across the world. The Victorian Government makes no apologies for going after aggressively, these types of jobs for our future. This is absolutely part of our strategy to make sure that we continue to see the best and brightest be attracted to Victoria to improve from our skill workforce but also to improve our offering to companies overseas. And we’ve seen recently companies like ZenDesk locate their Asia-Pacific headquarters in Melbourne, we’ve seen Go-Pro, we’ve seen Slack, we’ve seen Square. Internationally recognised companies at the peak of their industry choose to come to Melbourne. There’s no doubt that the reason they’re choosing Melbourne, and the reason the nbn have confidence to come to Melbourne with their cyber security centre, with their 700 jobs is because Melbourne is an outstanding location for IT graduates. We have 36 per cent of skilled IT graduates across the Country, New South Wales 28 per cent, Queensland 18. So we have a wonderful, wonderful skilled workforce to be attracted to and for people to locate their businesses. And we continue to support that and we make no apologies to ensure that Melbourne and Victoria is the best and only place for IT companies to think of when they come and expand into Australia. Thank you.
MCINERNEY:
nbn certainly welcomes that the Victorian Government is making in jobs and facilities across the State. It’s certainly allowing nbn to position, certainly in the next two years 400 high end roles and facilities across the State. Also supporting cyber security operations centre here in Victoria. We also expect that over the course of the next 5 years we’ll see hundreds of new jobs created here in the State across construction, operations and maintenance. Which is critical to the development and role of the network going forward. And it’s a real reflection on the focus that the Victorian Government has on innovation and high-tech in the State. So we think it’s a great partnership.
JOURNALIST:
Can you tell us exactly what the cyber security office is going to be doing?
MCINERNEY:
Well the cyber security centre is really there as a first line of defence. So it’ll be looking at traffic of the network, it’ll be acting as a first point of interrogation of that traffic as it goes through. It’ll be looking to remediate and action as well. But really consider, it’s a national broadband asset, a critical asset for Australia. This centre will be making sure that we understand what’s actually traversing the network at all times.
JOURNALIST:
So what are you looking for in terms of, are you looking for hacking things?
MCINERNEY:
Cyber security from our point of view, we obviously have a big focus on security in general across the organisation. Cyber security is really us looking for any sort of unusual traffic here that is coming in and out of the network at any point in time, and allowing us to take action against that traffic before it impacts the services. And that traffic can come from all types of locations, both internally and abroad.
JOURNALIST:
So do you do that in conjunction with the AFP?
MCINERNEY:
We have a very close working relationship with the departments across Australia. Obviously as a critical asset, that working relationship for us can been very strong over the course of the last five years and this is yet another investment we’re making to make sure that we live up to the requirement to protect the data and assets across the country.
JOURNALIST:
And how do you monitor it?
MCINERNEY:
We use very sophisticated software and very have very smart people. And that’s the competition in the market place. We need to make sure that we’re at minimum keeping up with those who are trying to do something to our network.
JOURNALIST:
Are there any concerns for privacy?
MCINERNEY:
Certainly the privacy is a big part of our policies going forward. Everything that happens, certainly within a security operations centre and the cyber security centre, data wise here is obviously very secured and monitored and obviously be abide by the policies that we apply to any of that movement of traffic.
JOURNALIST:
And monitoring the traffic internally and externally, does that mean that people using the nbn, you guys are tracking what they’re doing? How does that work?
MCINERNEY:
We don’t actually interrogate the packets going through our network. But we certainly look at the unusual traffic patterns that occur across the network which is what it’s all about for us. Certainly there is always a lot of discussion about inspection of packets and deep inspections of packets across, that’s certainly not a role for nbn.
JOURNALIST:
So in terms of metadata, all that sort of stuff that’s not the nbn’s role? Or is it the nbn’s role?
FIFIELD:
We have metadata legislation that applies across the board and the important thing to appreciate with the debate over the recent year over metadata, is that the Government’s legislation doesn’t really change the circumstances in which metadata can be accessed. What is requires in that organisations that might not have retained metadata for a period of time need to retain it for a period of time. But the circumstances under which it can be accessed by law enforcement agencies haven’t really changed.
JOURNALIST:
So is the nbn one of those agencies who does retain metadata?
FIFIELD:
Metadata, there are a range of different organisations who hold metadata. In terms of the material that nbn hold, that’s really a question for them.
MCINERNEY:
In relation to the network itself, obviously routine data in relation to the performance and operating of our network. It’s certainly in terms of customer data sort of aspects is a much broader set of policies that they cover across, that cover the industry as well. So our focus in terms of data is really about managing the network day to day.
JOURNALIST:
Do you anticipate any sort of cyber-attacks? I know it’s something we seem to seeing a little bit more of.
MCINERNEY:
I think like any organisation in the world at the moment, it’s front of mind. And it’s certainly front of mind for our organisation going forward to make sure that we’ve got the best defences possible across both systems and people to make sure that if someone does want to approach our network we can make sure they’re detected.
JOURNALIST:
Minister do you want to tell us how much Victoria has contributed to get this centre down here?
DALIDAKIS:
The Victorian Government, like always, keeps the amount that we allocate to providing incentives to commercial in confidence. Which will be no surprise to you Andrew. But we make no apologies for being aggressive in the market place to land those jobs and those companies that are in the 21st century, that are going to hold in good stead Melbourne and Victoria’s position as the number one IT destination, the number one tech, the number one digital destination, the number one destination for start-ups across the community. We make no apologies for that. We continue to be aggressive both at home and abroad to make sure that Victorians have the first opportunity for these high tech, high skilled, high paying jobs, because that as a government is our core and fundamental role to look after our people going forward.
[ends]
Media contact: Justine Sywak | 0448 448 487 | Justine.sywak@communications.gov.au