Topics: Telstra outage
James Willis: Joining us this morning, Sarah Henderson is the Shadow Minister for Communications. She’s on the line this morning. Sarah, good morning.
Senator Henderson: Good morning to you, James.
James Willis: We’re talking about Telstra possibly being fined $30 million but do you think it is the right thing to do for Telstra to be compensating all its customers for yesterday’s inconvenience?
Senator Henderson: Well, there is no doubt that Telstra has caused chaos across this country. Telstra’s network is critical infrastructure. This should simply not be happening. And I have got an update for you, James, because I have been advised that there is now a secondary issue on the network. We were told yesterday that it had been resolved, but Telstra has now identified a secondary issue impacting some calls, including those to Triple Zero. So, in some cases, when calls are being made to Triple Zero, some customers are receiving an error message, and that of course, is very concerning. Telstra is advising customers experiencing this error to wait on the call to connect via an alternative network, or to use a different phone to make the call. Now, apparently, and this is sort of pretty much breaking news, I’ve been advised that 90 per cent of that issue has been rectified but we do not know what has caused this second issue. But it is further evidence of that we have got an unacceptable level of service by our telecommunications carriers, and that is why I have called for an urgent inquiry by the regulator to report back to the minister within seven days.
James Willis: Just on that, Sarah, I mean, this government has made a lot of noise about the fact that, in light of what happened with Optus last year, that there are going to be tougher penalties, $30 million fines. Isn’t there some sort of Triple Zero ombudsman now as well? I mean are any of those systems working? Because I just cannot believe this can still go on, and there seems to be no accountability at this stage.
Senator Henderson: Well, here is the absolute joke. The regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, was asked by the minister to initiate an inquiry into the Optus Triple Zero outage, where a number of people died last September. James, we still have no outcome of that inquiry. 10 months and we have nothing. That is unacceptable, that is absolutely unacceptable. And that’s why I’ve said, and I can tell you, if Angus Taylor was Prime Minister and we were running the country, there is no way that me, as the minister, would allow the regulator to sit on its hands for 10 months and more. So that is why I am saying that we need an urgent response from the regulator. What went wrong? What are the breaches under the law? We need immediate action and also we have called for mobile network reliability standards, so that we can say to these telcos – you must perform to a minimum standard, reliability, performance, maintenance of the mobile network – because our mobile network is an essential service.
James Willis: Everything you’ve said there is spot on the money, and I think people listening agree with every word. With that in mind, can you just comment and respond to the fact, and please tell me this is not true. Yesterday, when this was all unfolding, is it correct, Sarah, that you picked up the phone and called Triple Zero multiple times to check to see how it’s working?
Senator Henderson: Very early yesterday morning, when I learned to the outage, I called Triple Zero. Initially, I could not get through. Now I was getting advice….
James Willis: Sorry, sorry, was there an emergency that you needed help with? Were you calling the ambulance for someone, or were you trying to politicise this even further by ringing Triple Zero?
Senator Henderson: No, I wasn’t. I was simply, as the Shadow Minister for Communications, making those initial calls to work out whether the camping on system was actually operating. Now we have had a number…
James Willis: Do you think you should have done that? I feel like that was the wrong thing to do, in light of what we were knowing. There was enough evidence, and we considered that yesterday morning. We were in this studio, and we thought, “Oh, should we ring Triple Zero? But I mean, you know what happens when you go down that route. How many times did you ring Triple Zero?
Senator Henderson: Well, James, can I say to you that the minister…
James Willis: No this is about you, though. I just want to ask, how many times did you ring Triple Zero?
Senator Henderson: Well, actually, no. Well, let me just.. if I can just walk you through it.
James Willis: No, no Sarah. Come on, 4, 5, how many times?
Senator Henderson: James, if I can just respond to what the minister has alleged. The minister was claiming that there was breaches of the criminal code because I had called Triple Zero on a number of occasions, and I identified very early on that Triple Zero was not working. Now I’m the Shadow Minister for Communications. The health and wellbeing of Australians is absolutely critical. I was being told contrary advice, and we now learn not only that Triple Zero was not working yesterday morning, but it’s still not working for some callers. I was doing my job, and there is a provision in the criminal code that if you make hoax or vexatious calls that can be in breach. I mean, it was ridiculous.
James Willis: I don’t think you’re going to be charged over this. I’m just asking from a moral perspective. In hindsight, when this happens in the future, you surely won’t be doing that again.
Senator Henderson: Look, I accept the criticism, but for the minister and for the government to be briefing out the ridiculous lines that they were. I mean, if you’ve got an elderly couple sitting at home worried about whether they can call Triple Zero, and what, someone checks and rings Triple Zero because they were worried about their safety.
James Willis: But that didn’t happen. Instead, they were behind you in the queue, potentially because you kept calling.
Senator Henderson: Well, I couldn’t get through in the initial two calls, James, and of course that is of deep concern. I accept the criticism.
James Willis: Yeah, it was silly, and you do an excellent job, Sarah. And I have to say I admire the way that you prosecute cases. This was not a good step yesterday. You shouldn’t have done that.
Senator Henderson: Well, I accept the criticism but what I will say is that I am in a unique position, holding this government to account. Australians have very little trust in our telecommunications carriers, James, we were told yesterday this issue had been resolved late last night, and again this morning. We now have updates from Telstra warning Australians. Now, whether they’ve done a very good job, I don’t know. We now know that the Triple Zero network is not working. Let me just make this point: Australians deserve, if they are in a crisis, if they are in an emergency, they deserve to know when they pick up the phone and dial Triple Zero, they will get help. Currently, in this country, if you are a Telstra customer, that is not guaranteed. Now I am in a unique position here, prosecuting the case, holding the government to account.
James Willis: Now we’ve got to go, Sarah. I appreciate your time, and thank you for coming on, and thank you for clearing that up. I think, in hindsight, you probably wouldn’t do that again, even though, as Shadow Communications Minister, you do have to get to the bottom of these things but there are official channels that you can go through. I appreciate your time. Thank you, Sarah.