No more telecom reform delays: Conroy

James Riley
Wednesday, 14 October 2009 10:21

IT Policy - Government Tech Policy

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has poured cold water on calls to delay the Senate debate on telecommunications reform, saying Government is committed to its passage by the end of the year.

The "structural dysfunction" of the communications sector was an on-going frustration for the industry and consumers, holding back competition and innovation, Senator Conroy told the Comms Day Summit in Melbourne.

Once the Senate committee investigating the legislation had delivered its report at the end of the month, Government intended to introduce the reform bill for debate.

"The Government will carefully consider all the submissions made to the Senate Committee Inquiry and the report that results," Senator Conroy said.

"However, we remain absolutely committed to debating and passing this legislation before the end of this year."

"As I have said, there is no justification for delaying these fundamental reforms. We have consulted broadly. The regime has failed."

Noting calls for the legislative debate to be put on hold – by Telstra and Opposition communications spokesman Nick Minchin among some others – until after the Government’s discussions with Telstra were complete and the NBN implementation study was finished, Senator Conroy said the regulatory reforms were critical to the industry regardless of the NBN plans.

"They argue that no action is required and that Australia should be satisfied with current levels of competition and service," he said.

"This commentary also ignores the fact that the existing regime has failed, over many years, to deliver the right competitive outcomes for Australian consumers and businesses."

Senator Conroy said the consultation process conducted over 15 months had been extensive, and that it was now time to deliver reforms that were long overdue.

He dismissed arguments put by shareholder groups saying the reforms would destroy the Telstra shareholder value for Australians that had acquired shares in the company from the Government in good faith.

"We have received and carefully considered, over many months, almost 200 submissions from key stakeholders – many of whom are in this room," Senator Conroy said.
 
"The overwhelming message from almost every submission was that the existing regime is broken and needs fundamental reform, from the ground up."

"The Government's job is to act in the interests of all Australian consumers and businesses."

Senator Conroy said the reform plans could not have come as a surprise to market, arguing the previous Government had warned potential T3 buyers that a review of the regulatory environment would take place during 2009, with a particular review of the Telstra operational separation model.

“I consistently argued as Shadow Minister that the existing regime is failing to meet its goals, and it needs fundamental reform," he said.

"Those who have followed things closely will recall that in opposition Labor voted against the existing operational separation regime for Telstra and argued that it was not strong enough."

"Even Nick Minchin for years argued that one of the key reasons to sell Telstra was that there was an inherent conflict of interest between owning a vertically-integrated Telstra and regulating the market," Senator Conroy said.

"One could argue that the direct implication of this view is that the previous Government failed to get the regulatory settings right."