Transcript - Sky News Credlin - 7 October 2025

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

7 October 2025

Transcript

Sky News – Credlin – with Peta Credlin

Topics: Triple Zero outage; Triple Zero inquiry; ACMA; Optus.

E&EO …

PETA CREDLIN

Joining me now, Shadow Communications Minister Melissa McIntosh. Melissa I've told my viewers this before, but I've been a staffer inside that portfolio, the Communications portfolio twice during the Howard era. It is the most or one of the most regulated areas of government business and it's solely regulated by the Commonwealth Government. She says that she hasn't sat on the legislation, but these recommendations are now about 18 months old and one of them was a new watchdog. So why don't we have it?

MELISSA MCINTOSH

Thanks, Peta. It's actually watching that clip that you showed of her today, I was in QT, but seeing it now part of it breaks my heart because four people have died. This is real life stuff. And the other part is sickening because she's still not owning up to any responsibility. As you said, there were recommendations to the government in March 2024, after the first Optus outage where no one died. They didn't do anything with those recommendations until now, when we're nearly at the end of Parliament for the year and they're trying to rush them through. I got the draft legislation late last night for it to be in Parliament today at lunchtime and they're like asking us questions, why are we just jumping on board with their bureaucracy? It is unacceptable and I think that we need to keep the pressure on the government, keep the pressure on this Minister until she takes some responsibility. It is not just Optus, the government failed on this as well.

PETA CREDLIN

She wants to say she's new. Okay, she's new to the portfolio, May is new, but she's been there for six months. But she's not new to the cabinet, she's been a minister before. The first thing you do when you go in and say, you know, what are the unexploded bombs in my portfolio? What's overdue from the last term in in office? What do we need to get passed through the Parliament quick smart? She clearly did none of that. And today I felt getting all the telco bosses in town, she could have done that last week. She could have flown to them if this was really urgent. But this felt like theatre to give her a bit of cover in a sitting week.

MELISSA MCINTOSH

Well, you're exactly right. You talk about she could have flown them in, but instead of flying them in, she flew off to New York while the crisis was unfolding. She stood there, held one press conference, she pointed ACMA, the regulator, to be the investigator, even though they are caught up in this, they're part of the failed process and then she shot off. Came back three weeks later, drags the CEOs of the telcos into parliament for a photo opportunity, none of us know what was discussed behind the scenes, and then rushes this legislation through when she's been sitting on the recommendations for, as you said, 18 months, just not prioritising Australians. A government’s number one priority is to protect its citizens. There is no greater priority than an Australian being able to pick up their phone in the greatest time of need and getting through to 000. It is something that impacts every single Australian. Why is the government just hands off? No care. Nothing to see here.

PETA CREDLIN

Yeah. What worries me, Melissa, is that if you get your legislation in November, you're not going to see the appointment of a watchdog until well into next year. You're not going to have all the infrastructure that backs them up. So, you know, we're all going to go off to summer and all the usual sort of natural disasters as Australians have and all the other mishaps that these poor people die from the other day without anything in place. I mean, that's my concern. Until it's fixed. Nothing's fixed.

MELISSA MCINTOSH

You're right, nothing's fixed. But the warning signs were there 18 months ago, and the Minister actually said that the custodian, this watchdog was in her department in March, but none of us knew that she didn't tell the public that. And now she's saying that it doesn't have any powers. For it to have any powers we need to have legislation.

PETA CREDLIN

Right.

MELISSA MCINTOSH

So, what I've been doing over the last 24 hours or so is looking through and ensuring that this isn't just a bureaucratic answer to a serious issue. We want it to work if we're going to support it. Now as you said, summer is fast approaching.

PETA CREDLIN

Keep the pressure up. Keep the pressure on them.

MELISSA MCINTOSH

Yeah, it's my job. I'm very happy to do it.

PETA CREDLIN

Please keep the pressure on them because this - yeah, I know you're doing a good job, and you don't claim you’re new either. Good on you for that. Thank you, Melissa.