Transcript - 2SM Mornings - 28 October 2025

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

28 October 2025 

Transcript 

2SM Mornings with Chris Smith 

Topics: Triple Zero outage; Triple Zero inquiry; net zero survey.  

E&EO … 

Chris Smith 

Well, you'd think after the Optus debacle, with thousands unable to call Triple Zero and three people tragically losing their lives, that the Federal government would have moved heaven and earth to make sure it never happens again. And here we are six weeks later, and all we're getting from Canberra now is a real time register, a map on a website, maybe, eventually. Communications Minister Anika Wells, who normally does a great job in the portfolio she has ordered the regulator to make the telcos, Optus, Telstra, the lot, publish live information about outages. Now, that might be okay, but here's the catch. Labor and the Greens have reportedly cut a deal to water it down. Instead of a genuine public register, it'll be on the telco's own websites. The Opposition Communications Minister is Melissa McIntosh, she joins us now. Melissa, let's start with the basics. This doesn't go far enough, does it? 

Melissa McIntosh 

There is nothing more important than protecting your citizens as a government. And right from the beginning, when this outage happened, I think the Minister has completely dropped the ball. She left the country, we know, during the crisis, and I've been pushing really hard in Parliament to have serious consequences for these telcos when something happens. And as you said, six weeks later, she might be pressuring the telcos to put something on their websites. We've been saying it needs to be a public register. We've put legislation through to have a Custodian that's meant to look over the whole Triple Zero network. Well, what are they going to be doing? Why can't it be under them and their responsibility? It's like pushing the onus away from the government of having any responsibility over the Triple Zero network, our most essential network. I'm so disappointed. And as you said, it looks like the government and the Greens are cutting some sort of deal and the result is going to be that Australians aren't going to have the network they need, the strength in the Triple Zero network, which we've been calling for from the very beginning.  

Chris Smith 

And I've started the program talking about this because this is life or death and a lot of people who are listening will one day have to rely on Triple Zero. Where would you like to see a live register positioned? 

Melissa McIntosh 

I would like it to be a public register run by the Custodian and it's automatic. So, you know, right now it looks like you might have to, once, if you go and buy a SIM card at Woolies or something, you've got to work out who you go, who your telco is, is it Optus is it Telstra? It makes it difficult for people. It needs to be just one place with all the telcos that people can go in and go, well, this telco isn't doing very well. They've had multiple outages. I don't want to go with it. We need the transparency, and Australians need to be able to have the choice in who they have as a network provider. But not only this, I've been calling for the telcos to have reports every three months, so the government has them doing it every six months. They've decided in this stitch up with the Greens that it doesn't need to be public; it doesn't need to be a public report on what's going on within the telcos. Again, where's the transparency? Where is putting Australians first? Everything needs to be public when it's, as you said, life and death. 

Chris Smith 

I wouldn't have thought that this measure in the wrong place does much to prevent another failure. What are they doing about preventing another technical failure? 

Melissa McIntosh 

The government should be pulling every lever that it has to prevent another failure. That's what I've been saying from the beginning. Let's have a thorough, independent investigation into what occurred, but we don't have that. We have ACMA, the regulator, which is caught up in all of this because they failed in their duty, investigating itself. 

Chris Smith 

That's right. So, they're the last people who should be investigating or reviewing what went on. 

Melissa McIntosh 

Absolutely, and we're now pushing really hard to have a Senate inquiry into what went on. I hope that gets up. I think the vote's going to be happening today and as I said, I really tried hard to get those amendments through Parliament, to have that public register, to increase the fines on telcos and to do everything we can to ensure this does not happen again. 

Chris Smith 

You told me about a month ago about the net zero survey that you were running in your electorate of Lindsay, based around the Penrith area of Western Sydney. I read the results on air yesterday. Wow. 

Melissa McIntosh 

Yeah, I wanted to ask the people in my community what they thought. I think that's what every member of Parliament should do, and I knew that people were feeling really strongly about it because they’re struggling so much. This isn't about climate ideology this is about people not being able to put food on the table. Genuinely, genuinely not being able to pay their bills. And it's those people who are going to suffer under net zero and this renewables-only approach that the government has. So, people do feel really strongly about it in my community. 

Chris Smith 

Well, when it was asked would you rather net zero without a ceiling on price or cost, you had a number in the 80% range that said no way. 

Melissa McIntosh 

Yep. 89%. I think it was in the high 80s. 

Chris Smith 

And yet we have a policy, the government has a policy, where there's no ceiling on what they spend. 

Melissa McIntosh 

Absolutely, and we haven't even seen the transmission line start really rolling out yet. So, the cost involved in that I'm fearful of when we get to the point of no return and it’s going to be so hard to bring costs back down again for Australians. And if you're paying, I don't know, $1000 to $1300 more in your electricity bills than what was promised you by the Albanese Labor Government, if you're an everyday Australian in Western Sydney in my seat, you are really feeling that. 

Chris Smith 

And surprise, surprise, today we discover that the documents that climate change Minister Chris Bowen tried to keep secret now show that he was told by the bureaucrats that if he wants to reach net zero, power prices will, quote, significantly increase. He didn't want us to know about that. 

Melissa McIntosh 

Yeah, and what happened to the $275 less on your power bills? I think he didn't want us to know that, and he knew that prices weren't coming down. That was, you know, that was a lie. They misled the Australian public on that promise over 90 times, the Prime Minister and his Minister said that, and people believed that, people voted for Labor because of those promises and now look where we're at. People lining up in food banks, people sleeping on the riverbanks in my community, out in the streets in car parks. This is Australia, this should not be happening, and it's the government's policies that are driving people into these positions. 

Chris Smith 

Well said. Thank you very much for your time this morning, appreciate it. 

Melissa McIntosh 

Thank you. Thanks, Chris. 

Chris Smith 

No problem. Opposition Communications Minister Melissa McIntosh.