Interview with Katie Woolf, Mix 104.9 Darwin

KATIE WOOLF, HOST: Now Darwin's first ever direct connection to the global network of high capacity subsea telecommunication cables, it was launched over the weekend. The development means connectivity in Northern Australia is going to be faster, more reliable and resilient and will hopefully mean further opportunities for the Northern Territory. Now, over the weekend, I caught up with the Federal Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowland. Good morning to you, Minister.

MICHELLE ROWLAND, MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS: Good morning. Great to be here.

WOOLF: Now, tell me a little bit more about this announcement yesterday and what it means for Territorians.

ROWLAND: This is the first time that Darwin is being directly connected to a global system of submarine cables. And these are the cables that carry data and voice. Just to give your listeners a sense of proportion: 98% of voice and data traffic around the world is carried by these undersea cables. Darwin now has a direct connection – thanks to the investment being made by Vocus – that's going to connect Darwin to Port Hedland, and then straight up to Jakarta and Singapore, so won't have to go via Perth or other routes, which is great news for the Territory,

WOOLF: It seems pretty amazing. And I guess that plenty of people listening are probably thinking, “oh, how's the reliability going to be?” But it's got to be reliable, doesn't it?

ROWLAND: 100%. And you’d notice when these cables are taken out by a ship or some other natural disaster, like undersea earthquakes, for example, and that cable gets cut. This is so important, exactly as you say, for redundancy, which means if one line goes down, we've got another line that's still capable of working. And in the end, it's going to mean faster and more reliable internet for the people of the Northern Territory, but also open up a lot of investment opportunities as well.

WOOLF: Yeah, talk me through that. Because will it mean that we've got capacity here in the Northern Territory now that we could see, you know, data centres based here in the in the Northern Territory,

ROWLAND: That's one of the big attractions of having a submarine cable landing in a city that is on the water that has a reliable workforce and has space. These data centres, they don't need much more than space, a roof, and air conditioning. And as the Chief Minister said at the launch, Darwin has all these things. And that means jobs, that means high tech investment, but it also means you've got international companies looking at where they can locate their data centres, they can go anywhere in the world, but choosing to go to somewhere like Darwin, it ticks all the boxes for them. And I'm very confident that with the right kinds of investment, this could mean a really great boon for the Top End. Yeah, hope.

WOOLF: I guess that that's always what we're looking at in the Territory is that diversification of the economy, and that diversification in terms of industry

ROWLAND: Absolutely. And I think for the first time having this direct connection, we'll be able to start thinking laterally about what kind of opportunities these presents. But again, you get international companies, they're going, where do I invest? They need somewhere that's got great connectivity, and they also need to ensure that it's reliable. And that's what this cable is going to achieve.

WOOLF: Minister, can you talk us through the scope of this work? Because I guess for lots of people, they're going to be going hang on a second, you know, a cable that's going under the sea? How far is it going? And, and, you know, and is it really going to be reliable?

ROWLAND: This is a 1000km spur. And it's been around 10 years in the making these long term investments that consortia make, and they want to get a long term return on their investment as well. In a nutshell, this has cost a lot of money over a long period of time to lay, it's going to be need to be maintained as well. But in the end, what it means for your listeners is the benefits that that's going to end up bringing in. That's a really powerful thing. And again, just to give some sense of proportion, there is more value in trade, from these undersea cables carrying financial transactions and data, then there is of goods carried by sea. When you think about that, these are the cables that are really where the money is, that really where the opportunities are out. And Darwin’s at the centre of that now, which is great.

WOOLF: In terms of that further opportunity. Are there talks underway? Yes. Or do you expect that there's going to be talks underway in terms of further investment, those data centres?

ROWLAND: The Chief Minister was very upbeat about that over the weekend, as well as Minister Ah Kit. They actually contributed funding towards - some of their jobs package - to help make this happen. So clearly, there's an opportunity for co-investment there that ultimately benefits the economy of Darwin as a whole and the population of the Territory

WOOLF: Minister. It's not the only thing you've been doing while here in the Northern Territory. While in Darwin, you've also launched a plan to try and bridge the digital gap for Indigenous Australians with stronger and more reliable telco services. What exactly is the plan?

ROWLAND: This is a Digital Inclusion Plan, which is designed around three key pillars. And it's been formulated in consultation with First Nations people and really provides a strategy for how we close this gap. This is about three things, it's about accessibility – so actually having the infrastructure in place so that people can utilize the digital economy – affordability – people should be able to afford to use it, if they can't afford to use it, it's really no good to them. And also having the ability, so the skills that are needed to make the most of it. And none of those are the same depending on where you live or what your background is. But what we are doing with this Digital Inclusion Plan is we are saying a whole-of-government approach needed, because I mean, I'm the Communications Minister, but we know that people utilise government services, for example, and the way that you interact with government now is expected to be online. If you don't have that accessibility, you're really at a disadvantage. We've got some data that's come out only in the last few days showing that the gap has unfortunately widened as between First Nations and other Australians. Part of my goal is to close that gap, I have Target 17 in Closing the Gap, and that's by 2026, to have equal levels of digital inclusion as between First Nations and non First Nations Australians, I'm going to be upfront with you, that is going to be hard to meet, because we haven't had a strategy in place until now. And we haven't had the proper data to be able to measure it. That all changes now, because we've got both of those things

WOOLF: On some of these places are so remote, you know, like, it's going to be difficult, I would suspect to actually get those services out there?

ROWLAND: They certainly are. And there's over 1000 remote communities that we're talking about. But that's not to say that we're not up for this challenge. irrespective of where you live in Australia, we know the benefits that come from being connected. And people need to be connected in different ways. For some people, it's about having high speed internet; high speed internet as their first priority. In other communities. It's about having some free public Wi Fi, for example. So there's different needs. And this is really not only a whole-of-government, but a whole of industry issue as well. It's about partnerships with the sector, partnerships with the Territory Government with the Commonwealth Government. And by having this strategy in place, we can map what we're doing right now and how we can best target this to actually get practical results on the ground.

WOOLF: Is it gonna cost – I guess that's gonna be the difficult thing is even when we're building housing out and some of those remote communities and that kind of thing, the cost to actually deliver those services can be the impediment?

ROWLAND: Here's the thing, there's a lot of really good initiatives that are happening right now, including, in my own portfolio. I've got some $30 million set aside for First Nations communities to improve regional connectivity, as well as mobile black spots. But it's only really by partnering with the carriers and with the States and Territories to understand where their needs are, that I can ensure that money is spent most effectively. I think this is about bringing together all the different programs we currently have, making sure they are all going in one direction to meet this strategy. Otherwise, we are not going to close this gap. It is going to be a challenge to get there by 2026. But we can make things better. And I'm very confident that Territorians understand that from all walks of life, that this really is something if we're going to have people engaging in the digital economy. We have to give them those opportunities.

WOOLF: Minister some are going to be listening to this interview thinking okay, telecommunications are certainly tough in remote areas. But even in places like Dundee, which is about 113km up the road. They've got limited phone connectivity and concerns on a very regular basis. Just last week, they were in a situation where mobile phone service outages sparked concerns and frustration. We had residents out there, visitors and business owners who were left in the lurch for about three days after Telstra as mobile coverage went offline. Now Telstra had a tech out there and they were trying to get that issue sorted. But unfortunately, it's not the first time that residents and tourists have raised those concerns. It's a work happening to try to sort issues like that one.

ROWLAND: This is a really pertinent issue and it's one that Minister Ah Kit with me herself since I've been in Darwin. We've got the infrastructure in place, but it's the outages. It's the service levels and people expect and they understand sometimes there's outages, but not for a prolonged period of time where it becomes a systemic issue.

So I have been engaged and I'll continue to engage with Telstra about making sure this isn't just about responding to outages. It's about doing what we can to mitigate those outages happening in the first place and getting in there a lot quicker. Again, just to give you a really practical example. The other day I was out with the NBN crew here in Darwin. They've got a program of training new people to come in – lots of First Nations and lost lots of women who for the first time have worked in this area. They have an on-the-ground large team of people who can go out and fix NBN faults quickly. I think that is the key issue here: you can have all the infrastructure you want, but if you're not maintaining the network properly, and making sure that you get ahead of those outages – and as was said to me by the Minister, we're in the dry season now, it'll get worse when we're in the wet season to go in and fix those outages. I'll continue to engage very constructively with the carriers around that. But I think there is a legitimate expectation from consumers that if they're paying for service, they shouldn't be getting it.

WOOLF: And so it is obviously something that you've spoken to our local minister here in the Territory about. Is something that's on the agenda, because I know for the residents of Dundee, they just get so frustrated, but also for those business owners out there trying to run a business. It's a little tourist hub, a little fishing hub. And you know, to not be able to utilize those services, it makes it incredibly difficult.

ROWLAND: Absolutely. And it can often be a safety issue as well. Being able to access telephony for emergencies. We've also got programs in place to assist with what we call Mobile Network Hardening so if the network goes down in a natural disaster, we can actually have technologies in place to make the network last a bit longer. I think what you're talking about here with Dundee, it does come down to the business as usual, proper maintenance over network and I'll continue to engage with Telstra. They have been responsive, but it's that timeframe as well. And it's the regularity and systemic faults that are clearly an issue. I'll work with the Minister and work with the carriers and see if we can get some real improvements for those with people.

WOOLF: Well, I reckon the people that listen to the show that live out there will be pleased to hear that. Minister, before I let you go this morning, I understand you went to Park Run over the weekend in Darwin. That's where I usually am, but my legs were a bit tired. And you took Luke Gosling, the Member for Solomon, you managed to get him there as well.

ROWLAND: I took Luke Gosling and he was a gentleman; he ran with me the entire time. This was my first Darwin Park run, I must say seven o'clock in Darwin was pretty warm, but managed to do it, I didn't stop. I got my time of 32:11 and came I think 27 in my age group, Luke Gosling crossed the finish line at exactly the same time. But I think he – the fact that he was sort of in the star position on his back for quite some time! Whereas yeah, I was just very pleased to finish, but look what a gentleman. I reckon he could have overtaken me, but he did really well. And such a great group of people.

WOOLF: I love Park Run. I think it's such a wonderful event that happens every weekend. So I think it's great that you guys were there. Minister, thank you so much for your time this morning. Really appreciate you coming in and having a chat to us on the weekend, of course while you're here in Darwin.

ROWLAND: Pleasure.