The Hon Michelle Rowland MP
Interview with Susan Graham-Ryan, ABC Radio Queensland
SUSAN GRAHAM-RYAN, HOST: The Federal Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowland, is with me; I asked her about how to keep people safe, and to ensure people can call Triple Zero when they need it.
MICHELLE ROWLAND, MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS: The concern here is that there’s a subset of handsets - and listeners - who have these handsets after the switch-over occurs probably won’t notice any change, except for that moment when they want to call Triple Zero - because the manufacturer of those devices has actually configured the 3G network to be used for Triple Zero calls. That is our concern. We identified earlier in the year that there are around 740,000 of these devices out there in the community. I convened a Working Group with the carriers to make sure that these consumers were contacted, that they understood that they needed to replace their device. I’m pleased to say in that time, that number of affected devices in the community has actually decreased to around 77,000. That’s a good result, but there’s still a lot more to be done. We continue to work with the operators who reach out to consumers, which is one of the reasons why I’m very pleased to be on your program.
My Public Service Announcement here is: please don’t leave this any longer! If you’ve been receiving these messages, you need to act now. Contact your telco. There are also arrangements in place - by both Telstra and Optus - if consumers, for whatever reason, mightn’t be able to afford to upgrade. They have plans in place to enable replacement phones to be given. So please don’t delay any longer, because we want to make sure that everyone’s safe.
GRAHAM-RYAN: One of the other concerns that people have is that it’s not just phones that are using 3G networks. There’s elevators, there is people using vital medical equipment. How do we make sure that those people are able to stay safe?
ROWLAND: Well, you’re right. There is a range of services that utilise the 3G network through different devices, but the telcos have been, over a long period of time, contacting these consumers. And yes, in some cases it may require equipment to be updated. I would stress the Government’s primary concern here is public safety. There’s access to Triple Zero; there’s access to medical alarms as well - and the way in which they’re able to still utilise their technology.
Your listeners may be aware that there’s different types of medical alarms. There’s ones that are monitored and unmonitored. I would encourage all of your listeners to not only themselves, but get their loved ones to check with their provider, to check with their telco, that their medical alarm will be compatible after the switch-over occurs. Again, this has been conducted over a long period of time by the telcos. We’re now getting to the point where people really have to act, if they haven’t done so already. So I urge all your listeners to check and to contact their provider.
GRAHAM-RYAN: What happens if it’s not a case that it can just be a quick update and it’s all good to go? What happens if people are not unable to update that equipment?
ROWLAND: I would urge people to contact their providers now because there are ways of being able to obtain updated equipment when the switch-over occurs. There’s a range of devices that will be compatible, but a lot of them may not be.
So again, they need to check, they need to contact their service provider. But I would also stress to your listeners that, as Minister, I have options for regulatory intervention if it's warranted in the public interest. So if it is the case that I determine, subject to consultation and the necessary processes, that I need to go through, I can actually make decisions on the switch-over occurring. The public interest and making sure the public are safe is the primary obligation of Government, and we are determined as a Government to make sure that this occurs in a safer way.
GRAHAM-RYAN: Earlier, you said 77,000 devices are still out there operating on the 3G network. You also just mentioned there that in your role as Minister, with a month to go, do we need to be extending this time frame so that people are able to remain safe? You know, this is a matter of life and death.
ROWLAND: Indeed. And good progress has been made, but there's more to do. I have been - myself and my Department - engaged almost constantly with the mobile operators here because our primary concern is public safety. I can make those decisions about the switch-over. Again, it's subject to required consultation and due process. But those options are before me and I continue to monitor the situation and I'll make a decision accordingly.
GRAHAM-RYAN: When will that decision happen?
ROWLAND: This is subject, as I said, to proper processes; but certainly it would need to be before the switchover occurs.
GRAHAM-RYAN: You're hearing from the Federal Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowland. You are in Far North Queensland today, tell me what's on the agenda today?
ROWLAND: One of the key announcements today is the extension of an innovative program that we have rolled out called the On Farm Connectivity Program. What this is about is enabling primary producers to invest more in Ag-tech, connected machinery, and the kind of technology that really helps to optimise the productivity of their farms - for their food and fibre that they produce.
We know that farmers are very keen on this. It was actually one of the recommendations of the Regional Telecommunications Review a couple of years ago, we picked that up and endorsed it. We established a $30 million On Farm Connectivity Program, the first of its kind in Australia. We've had the first round of that, around $15 million go out the door.
I'm very pleased to announce that we are expanding this program. We're increasing it - the second round - from $15 million to $18 million. We're also making sure that a greater range of technologies and devices can be accessed. Previously, the minimum cost of devices was $3000. We've decreased that to $1,000.
The turnover cap was originally if the farm was at a $2 million threshold, we've increased that to $4 million so that more farms, more money and more equipment means that more people will be able to take up these benefits.
I'm very pleased to say that in the Cairns area alone, in the first round, there was nearly a quarter of a million dollars allocated to farmers. This is really important for increasing productivity, because we know that digital and Ag-tech and uptake can add upwards of around $20 billion in the value of the sector.
We know how important this sector is. We understand this is really, a whole-of-government issue. We really want to pursue this. A lot of these farms are essentially small businesses as well, and we want to increase their capacity utilising that technology to make their farms more productive.