Media release - No more excuses on Triple Zero outages - action must be taken

Melissa McIntosh MP
Shadow Minister for Communications
Shadow Minister for Women
Federal Member for Lindsay

No more excuses on Triple Zero outages – action must be taken

30 September 2025

Today, the Communications Minister has finally met with Optus’s parent company Singtel after her New York trip last week.

This ‘new’ Minister, as she called herself this morning, should be across the brief and responding urgently in times of crisis, such as the heightened community concern over multiple Triple Zero outages.

Hiding behind human error, technical error and compliance issues, which apparently caused Optus’s outage over a week ago is not good enough.

This is why an urgent independent inquiry into the Triple Zero network ecosystem is needed alongside a public Triple Zero outage register to ensure Australians can have confidence in the network.

Shadow Minister for Communications, Melissa McIntosh MP, said, “Australians need a Communications Minister that is laser focused on solving this Triple Zero crisis.”

“The Minister said this morning she’s still new to the job, but it’s been almost five months since she was sworn in. The Minister needs to put Australians first and sort out this Triple Zero disaster, rather than doing promo tours to New York.

“The lacklustre performance by the Communications Minister this morning speaks volumes about what action she has been taking on this incredibly important issue. This is disappointing given we are at a time when Australians feel let down and are lacking confidence in the Triple Zero network - their lifeline in a time of need.

“The Minister is putting all of her confidence in an ACMA-led inquiry. The regulator should not be the investigator as they are part of the failed process.

“The Minister still won’t answer which Bean Review recommendations from the previous Optus outage have been implemented. Australians deserve to know this now.

“I am calling for a fully independent investigation into the Triple Zero network ecosystem and the need for a public register of outages so Australians can be informed and have confidence the system is working as it should.”