E & OE
GAFFNEY:
How’s the mobile coverage where you live? There’s still plenty of spots where it’s rubbish on the Coast. And you don’t have to step too far out from the urban areas of the Coast to lose your connectivity, either. The Communications Minister Mitch Fifield is on the Coast today to, amongst other things, announce an end to some of that pain and at least for people living in the Dulong and Perwillowen areas of the Coast, out past Nambour. He’s dropped in this morning to spend a little time with us. Mitch Fifield, welcome to the Coast.
FIFIELD:
Annie, good to be with you.
GAFFNEY:
Yeah, it’s great to have you in here. Tell us what’s happening today to improve the lives of residents and business owners out in the Dulong area.
FIFIELD:
Well, good news, in Dulong we can announce that the new mobile base station is there and operating. We recognise that connectivity by mobile phone is something that Australians take for granted, as they should. So, we have a Mobile Black Spot Program to progressively address those locations where you can’t get connection or where you have that frustration of it dropping out. Because people need that connectivity for business, for staying in touch with family and friends, and also at the time of emergency and natural disaster. And Ted O’Brien has been a huge advocate for the Mobile Black Spot Program, so some good news today.
GAFFNEY:
Yesterday on the program we were talking about why some residents in the Peachester area, which is a bit further south and it’s another hinterland area here on the Coast, don’t want a wireless broadband tower in their patch for the NBN, they’re still keen to get fibre to the node. And an environmental engineer on the program claimed, yesterday, that while it once might have been cheaper for the Government to build these wireless broadband towers rather than provide fibre in hinterland areas that might not be the case anymore. Is he right?
FIFIELD:
Well, NBN have a mandate from the Government, which we call the Multi-Technology Mix, which essentially means that NBN uses the technology that makes sense in a given area to see the NBN rolled out fastest and at less cost. And in some areas it’s cost prohibitive to provide a fixed line service and that’s when NBN deploy a fixed wireless service. So there’s still a significant cost differential between the two. But NBN does what makes sense in a given area. And the good news for the electorate of Fairfax is that the NBN is about 94 per cent complete. Nationwide the NBN will be done and dusted by 2020, which is a good six to eight years sooner than would have been the case under the approach of our predecessors…
GAFFNEY:
…Has the Government ever gone back, though, and crunched the numbers with NBN over the cost differential, as you said, between wireless fixed broadband towers over fibre to the node? I mean, given that technology moves on and things do become cheaper.
FIFIELD:
Look, NBN is constantly reassessing. So, there is still a case for fixed wireless in areas where the cost is just too high to provide a fixed line service. But the Government’s guarantee, nbn’s guarantee, is that every Australian premise will have access to the NBN.
GAFFNEY:
You’ve just come fresh from a breakfast, I understand, here on the Sunshine Coast, talking about the creative arts. What was on the table as part of that discussion, Minister?
FIFIELD:
We had presentations from half a dozen businesses and organisations which Ted O’Brien organised under the heading of the creative economy. Because the Sunshine Coast is a fantastic business ecosystem. It’s also an area where a lot of people with creative talents choose to live because of the natural environment, but also because of the range and variety of people and businesses that are here. So, we heard some terrific stories about what is being achieved. And just to pick one, a business called Typefi, who have as their customers Lonely Planet, The International Monetary Fund and iPhone. Who have a technology product which they are selling around the world. Tremendous stories. And the purpose of myself and Ted was to listen, to learn, to take back to Canberra that there are good things happening here. To make sure that we as a government do two things: one, not get in the way of these businesses doing what they do so well and secondly, seeing where it is that we can better support them. And one example which a business called Osler pointed out was, we have an innovation and commercialisation fund in the industry portfolio, this particular business was granted a million dollars, which they’ve converted into a rip roaring success of a business. So, it’s good to know that there are some things that the Government does that are helping on the ground.
GAFFNEY:
One of the things I’m really keen to tell you about is a hope by the Sunshine Coast Council that we’re going to get this undersea communications cable come in to the Sunshine Coast, which is going to make a huge difference to businesses in the way they operate here as well as the rest of us here on the Coast with our general connectivity. Can you explain where things might be up with that process?
FIFIELD:
Well, you’ve got a council here which has vision. A local member in Ted O’Brien who has vision. And part of what’s being put forward is the idea of having an undersea fibre optic cable that lands on the Sunshine Coast. Now, Ted came to me before the last election and said, Mitch, I think we need $250,000 to support the council to undertake a feasibility study to look at the business case. The council have done that work. I’ll be catching up with them later today to see how that work has gone. The main role of my portfolio when it comes to the landing of cables is the independent regulator, ACMA, when there is a proposition that’s put forward, they have the responsibility to declare what’s called a protection zone. So, that’s the formal responsibility that my portfolio has. But Ted and the council have been great advocates for this proposition and I look forward to being updated by council today.
GAFFNEY:
How likely is it, do you think, to go ahead?
FIFIELD:
Well, ultimately you need a business, that needs to be convinced, that it’s a proposition that’s commercial. And council will be updating me as to where they have got to in their discussions to date.
GAFFNEY:
Now, Gary’s put a question to you through our Facebook feed – which we’re going live at the moment, Minister, facebook.com/abcsunshinecoast. He wants to know why there’s wireless in Kureelpa, which really just sits above Nambour on the way going up to the Blackall Range up to Mapleton.
FIFIELD:
I don’t know the particular area but in general, fixed wireless is chosen by NBN where the population densities are not as great, where there would be serious expense in terms of the civil works, the trenching to get a fixed line to an area. Where you have that situation, that’s when NBN will deploy fixed wireless, because it’s a lot more cost effective.
GAFFNEY:
Alright. And also, Lisa Jay, don’t know if you can answer this one, she’s saying: what about the super laws or regulations in relation to buying art? Do you know or understand what that might mean?
FIFIELD:
I do, there were some changes to superannuation law I think about a year ago, which from memory were put in train by our predecessors, that limited the capacity of self-managed super funds to hold works of art. The determination was that if you have something in the self-managed fund, the primary purpose of it has to be to be an asset towards your retirement rather than something which is purchased for you to enjoy. That’s it in a nutshell. It’s not something that falls under me directly as the Minister for the Arts. It’s a decision that was taken in the superannuation portfolio.
GAFFNEY:
Alright. And then another of our listeners, Pat, wants to know about the electorate of Fisher just south of here, that- Andrew Wallace’s electorate. How far along is the rollout for the NBN in that electorate? Any idea?
FIFIELD:
I can speak to Fairfax because those numbers are in my head. It’s 94 per cent here. In the Sunshine Coast local government area it’s in the mid-seventies. With the electorate of Fisher I’d have to check, but we can certainly get that percentage for you and phone it through so you can provide that to your listener.
GAFFNEY:
And six complaints against the ABC Minister in the last five months, prior you being referred on. Can you explain a little bit more about your concern over some of the issues that you’ve raised in those complaints in relation to the ABC?
FIFIELD:
Sure. I think that the starting point is that the ABC is an important and a great national cultural and media institution. It is one of the great underpinnings of media diversity in Australia. And it’s one of the Commonwealth’s big commitments, along with SBS, to civic journalism. And the ABC does those things well. From time to time, like any media organisation, the ABC isn’t perfect. Be they public broadcasters or commercial broadcasters I’ve yet to come across a media organisation that’s perfect. And I have on occasion raised with the ABC areas where I think that they could strive to be their best selves. It’s something that I’ve done on a handful of occasions over almost three years as minister. But the ABC is going from strength to strength. And what I want to do as the Minister for the ABC and SBS is ensure that they’re always well-resourced, which they will be. ABC does important work. And particularly, I’ve got to say, in regional areas. And ABC Regional Radio is a great example of that because it’s very close to the community.
GAFFNEY:
And yet you’ve put a freeze on our funding essentially for the foreseeable future. So how does that fit into your commitment to independent broadcasting?
FIFIELD:
Well, the ABC has legislated independence and that really is the foundation of public broadcasting in Australia. We did announce in the Budget a pause to indexation for the ABC’s next three yearly funding triennium. That starts in a year’s time. And we’ve paired that with an efficiency review to support the ABC to identify where they can do even better, where they can be even more efficient. Because we all want to make sure that every Commonwealth agency – including the ABC and SBS – are the best possible steward of taxpayer dollars that they can be. And the great news is that the ABC will continue to receive in excess of a billion dollars a year. And the ABC enjoys greater funding certainty than any other media organisation in Australia. And that’s a good thing.
GAFFNEY:
I can assure you, Minister, we are now using our tea bags three times instead of just twice. Luke wants to know, why can’t our online data be protected as private? A lot of concerns raised now in relation to this issue with the uploading by doctors of our medical data as well. So as Communications Minister, what guarantees can you give us, any of us, about the protection of our data and our privacy particularly when it comes to that really big issue of our medical conditions?
FIFIELD:
With the e-health record, it’s an option that people have. If people do not want to be part of that e-health record then they have the absolute right to opt out of it. Greg Hunt, who’s been on the airwaves a bit over recent days, has been making the point that there’s very strong protections for that data. But moving to data privacy online, which is where you started, Annie. When people are operating in the online environment, when they’re using social media platforms, they do need to be aware of the terms and conditions of those sites, of those platforms that they’re on and to be careful about what it is that they provide to organisations that they really may not have a familiarity with. And we’ve done a number of things to help improve the protection of people’s data. One is we’ve introduced something called the notifiable data breach regime, where if there is an organisation that becomes aware of a data breach then they have an obligation to advise the Privacy Commissioner of that. But you always need to be very careful when it comes to the online environment that you operate in.
GAFFNEY:
What about- I mean you’ve chosen to make the system here in terms of our e-health record. You know, you’ve got three months from Monday of this week to opt out. Why not make it three months to opt in?
FIFIELD:
This is the system that is being put in place in the health portfolio and it’s one where people have the right to opt out. There’s a lot of information that’s available. There’s a lot of information that’s being broadcast, that’s available online, to make people aware that this is coming. So that if they don’t want to be part of it, they don’t have to be. They can opt out.
GAFFNEY:
It’s 22 past nine, I’ve got the Minister for Communications and the Arts, Mitch Fifield, in the studio with us this morning here on ABC Sunshine Coast. Annie Gaffney’s my name. Just a couple more questions if you would, Minister, because I know you’ve got to be over at Dulong to make this announcement about the black spot mobile funding. But John Atherton wants to know, do you expect the NBN network to remain competitive with the rollout of 5G by telcos like Telstra and Optus? And I think it was last week on the program we were talking about WiFli or WiLi, I think it is, which is a new technology that’s coming, where they’re using LED light spectrum to actually give us WiFi connectivity, and it’s something that’s being trialled down here in Caloundra, and could be used in our new Smart City behind us here in Maroochydore. So can you respond to that?
FIFIELD:
Look, nbn are operating on the assumption that about 75 per cent of people in a given area will opt to access broadband through the network. So NBN already has factored into its business case that there will be a degree of substitution from fixed line to mobile access to broadband. Mobile will never replace fixed line broadband, mobile will only ever be a supplement to fixed line broadband, for two reasons. One, is that data is much more expensive on mobile than on fixed line. And the other is that even with the best mobile network, you need a fibre backbone. So yes, there will be some substitution between those technologies. Yes, 5G is going to provide new products. It will reduce latency on that particular service. So we can look forward to even better mobile services than we have now. But it’s something that nbn has factored in.
GAFFNEY:
The developer of that [indistinct] was speaking about said because it’s so much faster than 5G and NBN that it has the potential to jump over 5G altogether. I mean isn’t that a bit of a worry for the telcos and the rollout of that?
FIFIELD:
Telecommunications is constantly evolving. And I think one of the mistakes of our predecessors with their model for the NBN was assuming that there would never be anything that would be a competitor to their model of the NBN. They said to NBN, you’ve got to use a particular type of technology. What we’ve said to NBN is be technology agnostic. Use the technology that makes sense. Be nimble. Be able to constantly evolve. And that really is the message in the telco space is things are forever evolving and just because we can’t imagine a new way of delivering services doesn’t mean that that’s not on the horizon.
GAFFNEY:
I want to talk you about the by-election in Longman. It’s a real litmus test for the Coalition Government. Come 28 July, the candidate there Trevor Ruthenberg was with me on the program yesterday for a forum, an election forum. Big day for Mr Ruthenberg in that there’d been a uploading in his biography for the state government during his Newman Government years as a representative there for Kallangur of a listing of a medal that he didn’t receive. He’s apologised for that and says he’s contacted every RSL in the vicinity and Vietnam Veterans Association to apologise for what he says was just a mistake that he can’t explain. Nonetheless it’s a big mistake. He’s been heavily criticised for it. Has it put Longman in jeopardy as far as the Government’s chances there of taking that one back from Labor?
FIFIELD:
Look, it was an honest error which he’s taken ownership of and that’s to his credit. This is not a litmus test for the Government. This is a litmus test for Bill Shorten. There’s only been one by-election in the history of federation where an incumbent government has won the by-election from their opponents. So this is about whether people trust Bill Shorten, whether people think that Bill Shorten wants to support business in the Longman electorate. We don’t think he does. He has been very clear that he has an anti-business agenda. So this is an opportunity for people to cast a verdict on Bill Shorten. This is a seat that was held by the Australian Labor Party…
GAFFNEY:
By a very slim margin though, sneering it off Wyatt Roy. You’d have to say he was a very popular member there in his time and yet lost that seat. I mean that must have been seen as a huge misstep, gain by one of your own down there in Longman. I’m just wondering if Trevor Ruthenberg, the candidate there, has been mortally wounded in essence by that mistake yesterday. A series of missteps if you like by your representatives there in Longman.
FIFIELD:
Well, we’re focused on this particular electoral contest. This is a seat that was held by the Australian Labor Party. It’s almost unprecedented for a government to win a by-election from their opponents. We’re obviously in there making our case that we’re the party that wants Australians to keep more of their own money in their pockets. We’ve legislated our personal income tax cuts. We want to support business by again allowing them to keep more of the money that they earn. Bill Shorten is against those things.This is an opportunity for people to cast a verdict on Bill Shorten.
GAFFNEY:
If you can take Longman how significant is that for the next election, federal election outcome?
FIFIELD:
Look, I am not going to speculate on election outcome. That is something for the voters in Longman to express. They will do that through the ballot box. We’ll make our case and we put ourselves into their hands. But again, this is really a big focus and a big test for Bill Shorten. This is a seat that’s held by Labor. This is a seat where the candidate knew that they were ineligible to sit in the Australian Parliament, yet they continued to do so. This is all about Bill Shorten. This is all about that the candidate for Labor there who was sitting in the Australian Parliament under false pretences.
GAFFNEY:
Do you think Malcolm Turnbull’s going to come and do a walk through in Longman before Super Saturday? I know that, you know, Pauline Hanson whenever she shows up there she’s just mobbed, she’s just like a rock star and she’s the only one of the major parties, the leaders of the major parties that has actually done that walk through at a shopping centre, unannounced, happy to stop down and chat to people. You’d have to say One Nation’s got a real look in down there in Longman given its, you know, working class status and people really concerned about funding for the hospitals and a lot of people living there on very low incomes if not welfare, Centrelink payments. Is Malcolm Turnbull likely to show up any time soon and do a bit of a walk through and make himself available to voters down there in Longman?
FIFIELD:
The Prime Minister is incredibly accessible. We have had a lot of ministerial colleagues who have been through the electorate and…
GAFFNEY:
…But just not in that, you know, more open manner that Pauline Hanson has done.
FIFIELD:
I haven’t been following Pauline’s personal campaign style. But me and my colleagues we’re out and about, we’re in the community, we’re accessible and that will continue.
GAFFNEY:
Minister, really thank you for spending so much time with us this morning. Enjoy your time on the Coast and I’ll let you get going out to Dulong. Thank you.
FIFIELD:
Good to be with you, Annie.
GAFFNEY:
The Minister for Communications and the Arts, Mitch Fifield.
[ends]