Transcript - 2GB Mornings - 22 September 2025

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

22 September 2025

Transcript

2GB Mornings with Mark Levy

Topic: Optus outage.

EO&E ...

Mark Levy

 I'm joined by the Shadow Communications Minister Melissa McIntosh. She's on the line with me now. Melissa, good morning to you.

Melissa McIntosh

Good morning.

Mark Levy

I think first and foremost, Melissa, we need to spare a thought for these families who are mourning loved ones. This should never have happened in the first place.

Melissa McIntosh

It is an absolute disgraceful failure by Optus on every single account. As you said, there's sadly four lives that have been lost, and a whole lot of miscommunication and unanswered questions along the way. Even today, the Communications Minister stood up with ACMA and couldn't answer questions around when her department and ACMA actually found out, which appears to be on Thursday, but she didn't know until Friday afternoon. So, the whole process has been a complete disaster.

Mark Levy

It's not good enough, is it Melissa when we wait 21 hours for the CEO to front a press conference, just said ironically, on a Friday night when a lot of people have switched off and want to go out there and enjoy their weekends. I don't think it's too much for us to ask as consumers to be told and to be upfront and honest from those who run these companies.

Melissa McIntosh

That's right. Australians have a lot of questions. I don't think those questions are being answered right now. And you'd think that would be the top priority of both the government, the regulator, and Optus, to get together, have an independent inquiry, a proper investigation, not by AMCA because it seems like ACMA found out about this before Friday. So, we need this to be a proper, thorough investigation, including into why our most vital service, essential service of Triple Zero is an offshore call centre.

Mark Levy

Should the CEO resign Stephen Rue?

Melissa McIntosh

I think most right-minded Australians are calling for his head today.

Mark Levy

Well, let's look at the knock-on effect of this because we've been through it only a couple of years ago - there were financial penalties levelled at Optus. I think there's a genuine discussion that needs to be had around Singtel, which is the owner of Optus, because clearly Melissa, they just keep wiping their hands of this. And the only people to sort of, you know, be affected by this of the CEO formally Miss Kelly Bayer Rosmarin and now Mr Rue, who will probably lose his job. At what point does the government need to step in and say, enough of these financial penalties, we need to do something more. And if so, what more can they do, Melissa?

Melissa McIntosh

That's right, a $12 million fine obviously barely scratched the surface. We need to ensure - and every Australian we're approaching bushfire season. Every single Australian should, as you rightly said, you know, have that confidence if they need to call triple zero, that they're going to get through and this isn't just about Optus. Any telecommunications provider should be giving confidence to every single Australian, no matter where you are in this country that you can call triple zero and get a response. So, something more needs to be done. It needs to be more than just a fine. Obviously, Optus hasn't met all of the recommendations from the review. So, it's gone past review phase. We've had review after review, and we need this government to be really strong. It'll be backed by the Coalition, but what I'm calling for right now is an independent investigation, not by ACMA. Something stronger than that needs to happen.

Mark Levy

When we talk about financial penalties, Melissa, I mean, you've been around long enough to know what happens. Companies are fined, and then it's the customers who are the ones who end up having to, you know, pick up the tabs for the incompetence of these companies. Are financial penalties enough?

Melissa McIntosh

It is clear by what happened last week that financial penalties are not enough. Something more needs to be done. You know, perhaps the CEO will resign. But what else can we look into around the responsibilities of these big companies that have a lot of money? They're letting their customers down, but not only that, right now, we've seen that for people who have sadly passed away. That is bad. Every single Australian should be really like in an uproar, like real uproar about what's going on. And every single telecommunications provider needs to guarantee Australians that the very least they can get that triple zero service. And we want the government to make sure they're doing, pulling every single lever they can to sort this out, so it never ever happens again.

Mark Levy

Oh, I've got a lot of people writing to me, Melissa, saying, well, why isn't there a threat of jail time? I mean, we're talking about people who have lost their lives through the incompetence of a company. Is that something you'd back jail time for businesses like Optus that fail Australians like they have done over the last few days?

Melissa McIntosh

Let's look at every single option right now. Potentially if people are, if there are individuals at fault we need to ensure that every single option, that's why I'm calling for a thorough investigation, not by the regulator.

Mark Levy

It's a time for the government too, to sit down with the Singaporean owners of Optus and have a legitimate conversation. I know there's a couple of Australians on the board. There's Gail Kelly, a former CEO of one of the major banks. There's another Australian gentleman on the board. Should the government be sitting down and having a conversation with the owners of Optus?

Melissa McIntosh

Of course they should be. That should be a number one priority. How about the number one priority above that be protecting Australians and they've failed. Optus has failed at that. So, every single person involved in this should be at the table with the government, come out with a solution that ensures this never happens again.

Mark Levy

Alright, well Melissa, thanks for jumping on and having a chat.