Transcript - 2GB Night - 28 October 2025

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

28 October 2025

Transcript

2GB Nights with John Stanley

Topics: Triple Zero Custodian Bill; Triple Zero outages; Triple Zero register; Triple Zero fines; Optus inquiry; ACMA, eSafety Commissioner; digital ID; social media age minimum; net zero survey; energy prices; nuclear energy.

E&OE …

John Stanley

Now let's get to our news hour because there's been a lot happening in Canberra today. We've had some movement on the Triple Zero, the very, very slow response of this Triple Zero scandal. Now the telcos are going to be required to report outages. They're moving towards some form of Senate inquiry as well.

Melissa McIntosh from the Opposition has been driving a lot of this over the last couple of weeks, so I thought I'd talk to her about that. Also, she's been polling her electrode on net zero. She's also got some concerns about digital id, so there's a who range of things to talk about. She's a member for Lindsay and also the Shadow Minister for Communications and I spoke with her earlier this evening.

Melissa McIntosh

Good evening, thanks for having me on.

Stanley

Just to start with - Triple Zero, there have been some moves now, some requirements put on the telcos. What do you make of where we stand today?

McIntosh

Too slow. This is about Australians lives and we're about to hit disaster season and it's like the government's just woken up that is an issue. Lives were lost during the Optus Triple Zero outage. The Minister did a press conference, choofed off overseas and the crisis was still unfolding. I've been putting pressure on the government, because the government does play a role in overseeing the telecommunications networks, pushing them hard to ensure this never happens again.

I put legislation amendments through the Parliament. I called for an inquiry. I, you know, did everything. I asked for the telcos to be fined more. The government said no to all those requests and calls for action. But finally, today, we've had some success in that the government will increase fines for telcos. But they did a stitch up deal with the Greens.

We wanted the fines to be $40 million. The Greens caved in. There must be some sort of backroom deal we don't know about. It'll be $30 million. Unfortunately, the registration, when there's an outage that I've been calling for, a register of outages won't be made public across the board. It will be up to the telcos to do. So, you know what? Things have somewhat moved, but not good enough. This isn't good enough. This is life and death stuff, and it's taken so much relentless pressure for the government to do anything about it.

Stanley

Just - I know, I think they're talking about a Senate inquiry. But you wanted an inquiry outside ACMA, which is involved in all of this. Is there any movement on that front? A proper independent inquiry to see what happened and why?

McIntosh

I just still don't understand how ACMA, the regulator, can investigate itself. They were part of the failed process. They received emails about the outage, didn't pass them on. So, what are they going to find in that investigation? It doesn't actually make sense. We do need a public investigation. The Senate inquiry is the next best thing.

The telcos will have to front inquiry. I want it to be a thorough investigation into the whole Triple Zero network. Why do these big telcos get contracts, government contracts, when they're getting fined at the same time for doing the wrong thing by the public. That just - you know, every everyday Australians will be like what's going on here? What this - none of this makes sense. So it starts on Monday, the Senate inquiry. Hopefully Optus will be fronting up pretty early on and ACMA too. I'd like to see them answering some serious questions from our Senators.

Stanley

Well, let's see what comes of that. Now the December tenth is a really important day. It's the start of the under 16 social media ban. You'd be aware, you talk to a lot of people. There's a lot of scepticism about whether it will work, whether it is going, whether it's overreach. We know there's a big push from the tech companies, they don't like it.

There's also this question of how people are going to be identified using the various methods the tech companies will use. You've been concerned about digital ID, which from what I read is not going to be part of it, but - or is, is that, is that for sure?

McIntosh

I've been warning for some time that people are really not going to like having to show digital ID. I even asked, when I finally got a meeting with the eSafety Commissioner, I asked her what, you know, your powers, does that enable you to use pressure and she does have the powers to enforce digital ID

She said to me, oh yeah, but I won't use them. Gosh, she could if she wanted to. And now it's being revealed through questions in Parliament. The social media companies are saying that they may need to use digital ID to verify age and one of them I've just read has even showed concern that they might not be ready and they're concerned about people's privacy.

So, this isn't a clean cut thing. We want to protect kids, of course, but I have doubts, and I have had doubts for quite some time that this is going to be pulled off in a way that does protect kids and doesn't get adults caught up in, in the whole mess of digital ID and a rush because we still don't know which platforms are in or out. And as you said, it's December 10.

Stanley

It's December 10. I thought we were going to get - as it last weekend or the weekend before. There's going to be advertising campaigns, information packs for parents that. That didn't - doesn't seem to have happened. We don't seem to get much clarity on this at all.

McIntosh

No. And some of those parents that had sadly lost their children to social media harm, they came to see me, and they'd had a meeting with the Prime Minister and they expressed - this is weeks ago now - expressed their concerns that there wasn't enough promotion about this happening.

It will happen in the school holidays. Kids don't know, parents don't know, schools don't know. And I think the government's released an ad campaign, but it's pretty weak. If they want to get this right, they should be throwing everything at it, not going on a PR tour overseas, telling the world how amazing they are when there's no proof that this is going to work.

Stanley

Because December 10, I mean, I think there's a week of school holidays roughly after that, but then kids go on break. And unfortunately, much as you probably like kids to go hiking and swimming and out and about and doing stuff, the heads go down into the phones, don't they?

McIntosh

Yeah. I'm sure the parents are going to be thanking the government for putting the ban in place right at that time. I'm sure. But, you know, we want to do everything we can to ensure kids aren't going online. And I have to say the Coalition did have the same policy. So it is odd for us to all of a sudden backtrack and say the government would try and use that against us.

But I've always questioned that it's going to work. And there's more questions and answers the closer we get to the deadline. And more people are becoming sceptical. And then you - there's a risk now that people are going to forget that this was meant to be about the kids. Adults are just going to get annoyed.

They don't want digital ID. The platforms don't know if they're in or out. And now they're saying that they may have to enforce digital ID. Where's the government on this?

Stanley

Okay, well, let's get to - I guess that's in your capacity as Shadow Minister for Communications, but you're also the Member for Lindsay. You represent your electorate.

McIntosh

First and foremost.

Stanley

Yeah, well you've got to keep across all of that. So, Member for Lindsay, you've polled your own electorate on net zero and energy prices, you found that it was, I think, getting up towards 60% of people, they weren't in favour of sticking to the net zero target. They're not happy about power prices. So, from your point of view, when someone says to you, well, how can we lower power prices tomorrow, next year, in three years’ time, what's the answer you give them? Because when I have people ask me, what does it mean if you get rid of net zero, what is the consequence of that to then lower power prices?

McIntosh

Well, that's right. I polled my community. I think it's really important for MPs to actually ask the people what they want. And people in my electorate and right across Western Sydney, right across the country really are paying so much and it's affecting people in a way that they're going without now. You see more and more people lining up at food banks, more and more people sleeping rough on the street.

You don't want that for any Australian. And there it is such a thin line between, you know, having a, you know, your family eating and having, you know, dinner round the table and be able to pay the bills and being in dire straits. So, I did ask them. 65% do not support net zero by 2050. The -  89% have said that their energy bills have increased, which is quite significant.

And they also said that they’re trying to do the right thing. Nearly 50% have solar panels on their roofs to bring down costs, but they can't afford the batteries. So only about 14% have a battery.

Stanley

Yeah.

McIntosh

So, this is, you know, and you're right, people are asking the question, what can we do?

Stanley

What they’re going to ask you is, well, what can you do? If you win, if you, if you got back in the government, the next election, you know, it's going to be a big job, but if you do, they'll say to you, what can you do to reduce the price of power? Given people are very cynical these days.

McIntosh

Yeah, well, I know people are and they've got a right to be. I think we really should be, you know, looking at all the technologies, we shouldn’t - be gas and we shouldn't be taking coal out of the system so quickly. Once the transmission lines are in for renewables, the costs go up and we'll get to a point where you can't backtrack from that and the costs will be baked in. And that's the concern.

People in my community are really open to lifting the ban on nuclear. I think we should be looking at that as well. More than 70% support the ban in the survey idea being lifted. So, we do need to be pragmatic about our energy policy and start thinking about putting Australians first.

And we are doing work in the Coalition to try and set this, because everyone does have different views. People have different views across the country and different communities have different views. But for mine, they don't want net zero. They are suffering under this government's renewables only approach.

Stanley

Yeah. But I guess again, that's why people are asking, you can say, well, we get rid of net zero, what happens then? And I think you hit the nail on the head there. Every year there's more and more transmission lines, more and more renewables going in, big companies investing in it. So, it's going to be hard to unpick if you try and go back to something different.

McIntosh

You're right. There is a point where so much investment has been made. The transmission lines are there, the cost of baked in to people's field, that it will be harder and harder to reverse this.

Stanley

I appreciate …

McIntosh

That's why we need to make change now.

Stanley

Yeah. I appreciate your time. Thank you so much for all the work you're doing and good luck, particularly on the Triple zero one and the Digital ID. I'm not sure you're going be able to go on holidays, actually in the couple of weeks after December 10th, because I don't think it's going to be a smooth transition …

McIntosh

Yeah.

Stanley

Into this, into this ban.

McIntosh

I don't think people want pollies to have holidays, so that's okay.

Stanley

You'll have to have a holiday sometime, alright.

McIntosh

Sometime.

Stanley

You're in a good part of the world. You go holiday there.

McIntosh

Yeah, beautiful.

Stanley

Sorry, shouldn't be denying you a holiday. Thank you so much for that.

McIntosh

Thank you.