Dutton’s hostility to Labor’s mobile plan out of step with state colleagues

Peter Dutton’s communications spokesperson last week slammed Labor’s proposal to solve mobile blackspots with direct-to-satellite service as a “desperate” headline grab. But a group of Coalition state MPs tell Crikey the technology is likely the way of the future. 

Four Liberal and National state shadow ministers told Crikey they were cautiously optimistic about Labor’s plan for a universal outdoor mobile obligation. The proposal seeks to guarantee equal access to mobile communications by requiring telcos to work with low-Earth orbit (LEOSat) providers to implement an emerging technology that allows phones to connect directly with the satellites. 

“This is too important an issue to let political allegiances get in the way or stall progress,” said Tim Whetstone, the South Australian Liberal MP for Chaffey and the state opposition’s emergency services spokesperson. “I’m supportive of the concept, but a little cautious in giving support to a policy that has little to no detail … I am genuinely excited that if the cell-to-satellite technology is rolled out, and we put competition into the marketplace, it [will be] the way of the future.” 

Western Australian upper house Nationals leader and regional communications spokesperson Colin de Grussa said the satellite technology would “do more for solving blackspot issues in terms of voice and text than any other measures”. 

“Extending the universal service obligation to include voice and text services by mobile phone could be a good thing, provided it doesn’t add additional costs to the services or see mobile providers withdraw,” de Grussa said. “As you are no doubt aware, the rapid expansion of low-Earth orbit satellites for internet provision and newer generations of those satellites now offering direct-to-handset voice and text capabilities will mean coverage is vastly improved very rapidly.”

Victorian Nationals leader and emergency services spokesperson Danny O’Brien, like all the other regional Coalition MPs who spoke to Crikey, said mobile blackspots were a huge problem in rural areas. 

“Communications are critical in emergencies and in regional areas we face ongoing frustrations with mobile service blackspots — at times of emergency it can be a lot more than just a frustration,” the Gippsland South MP said. “Emergency satellite technology has great potential to put those issues behind us and we look forward to seeing how it can best be utilised.”

The NSW Nationals’ emergency services spokesperson and Coffs Harbour MP Gurmesh Singh said the government should consider “contemporary technology” to aid first responders in natural disasters, such as Tropical Cyclone Alfred, which is currently threatening to batter the state’s north and Queensland. 

“While I agree with the principle behind the universal outdoor mobile obligations, I haven’t seen enough detail about how it will work,” Singh said. 

As Crikey reported last week, the federal Coalition’s new communications spokesperson Melissa McIntosh criticised Labor’s proposal as a “desperate” bid for attention “on the eve of the election”.

“Australians have been smashed by the government’s cost of living crisis and will be rightly concerned about the prospect of higher mobile phone bills under the Albanese Labor government’s last-minute plan,” said McIntosh, who represents the Western Sydney electorate of Lindsay. 

Following Labor’s announcement, some senators from Labor, the Coalition and the Greens have voiced concerns Elon Musk’s Starlink would be able to achieve an effective monopoly on the satellite services required for the obligation to work. 

In the days since, the National Broadband Network has reportedly moved to select Amazon rather than Starlink as the provider to replace Australia’s pair of aging Sky Muster satellites, which provide broadband access in remote areas. According to The Australian Financial Review, the geostationary satellites will be replaced by low-Earth orbit satellites made by the Jeff Bezos-owned tech giant, pending ministerial approval.

Whetstone, the South Australian state MP, said the government should consider developing its own LEOSats as a way to have “sovereign ownership of our telecommunications space”. 

“To put all of our eggs into Elon’s basket — I would certainly put a level of caution into that,” he said. 

McIntosh told Crikey the federal Coalition would give in-principle support to “solutions that ensure rural, regional, and remote Australians have better mobile phone coverage”.

“However, what Labor has announced has no detail, no costs, nor assurances to Australians about when the technology can be implemented at scale for regional communities,” she said. “We will have more to say on our policies in due course.”