Transcript - Sky News NewsDay - 23 September 2025

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

23 September 2025

Transcript

Sky News NewsDay with Kieran Gilbert

Topics: Optus outage; UN Palestinian recognition; Ley Israeli call.

EO&E …

Kieran Gilbert

Let's get some more on the Optus scandal and bring in the Shadow Communications Minister, Melissa McIntosh. Thanks for your time. The Government's responded. An investigation is underway. You don't believe the investigation is an appropriate one? Why?

Melissa McIntosh

Thanks for having me on, Kieran. This has been such a serious issue incident where four people have sadly died. Australians have a right to be so angry right now. It has been a failure from Optus, but it's also been a failure in the process. Optus alerted, by law they have to do this, alerted ACMA, the regulator, on Thursday and the Department of Communications. Nothing happened with that alert. The Minister says she didn't find out about it until Friday and then she tasked ACMA, the regulator, to investigate the situation. I just don't see how ACMA can, as a regulator, be the investigator when they're caught up in this failed process.

Kieran Gilbert

So, who should undertake the inquiry, in your opinion?

Melissa McIntosh

It needs to be a thorough, independent investigation. Optus already had a breach back in 2023 and ACMA reviewed that breach, put together a whole list of recommendations. The Minister couldn't even say to the Australian public which recommendations have been implemented, which are still outstanding, which are part implemented. Yet, then she tasks ACMA to do this again. It could be an expert in the field of telecommunications, it could be a number of people, but I don't think it should be the very body that is involved in this whole disaster, really disaster of process. As well as what Optus did in the first instance. So, I'm asking the government to come up with a better option. This should be their top priority right now when Australians have died.

Kieran Gilbert

Given ACMA apparently wasn't notified until after the outage was restored, is it fair to be saying that they've got questions, given they weren't involved, they weren't notified at any stage. And it seems the police, as well as the Premiers of the States affected, were kept in the dark as well.

Melissa McIntosh

Optus says that when they became aware at about 1:30 or so on Thursday, that they, or 12:30, around the middle of the day, they alerted ACMA within an hour or two. And it was via email. But there seems to be a failure in the urgency of this email. This email communications went out. They did actually find out in that process that something was very wrong with the Triple O network. They should have done something then. Why didn't anyone alert the government, alert emergency services, which is what is meant to happen. So, there's been a big failure in the process. What I want as a, as a citizen in this country. What everyone wants is for a person, when they are in their greatest need, to be able to pick up the phone and call Triple Zero and for it to go through, that's not too much to ask. People are paying a lot of money to be customers of these telecommunications providers.

Kieran Gilbert

The Minister has said that the company will be held accountable. She said ‘we will be considered about our response, but there will be consequences’. Do you welcome that message?

Melissa McIntosh

What does consequences mean? I think she needs to show some leadership here. We had a press conference yesterday. We haven't heard much more since then than the CEO promised to come out every day and he's  - we haven't seen him for days now. I think Australians have lost confidence in the emergency Triple Zero network. They've lost confidence in Optus, they've lost confidence in the CEO. Somebody needs to step up and move this along with urgency.

Kieran Gilbert

Can I ask you a question about the Palestinian recognition by the Australian government? Your leader, Sussan Ley, had a conversation with the Israeli Foreign Minister. Apparently the Israeli government reached out to the opposition to have that conversation. Are you comfortable with that? Do you think that that is a course of events where an international government reaches out and intervenes in our discussion about foreign policy?

Melissa McIntosh

What, is the opposition not meant to have conversations with other nations because we're in Opposition? I think it's a very fair thing to do and those conversations happen all the time. And we've been very clear in our policy position. We're not the ones that broke away from a long standing, bipartisan, long held position when it came to Palestine. And I note that the Foreign Minister said something pretty, you know, unfriendly about our Opposition Leader. I think the Foreign Minister is the one that, that is going rogue on foreign policy here because they're the ones that are breaking a long held foreign policy position. They have not asked the Australian people whether we support this. They are not being Team Australia, bringing the country along and they're not prioritising our nation first.

Kieran Gilbert

Shadow Communications Minister Melissa McIntosh. Thanks. We will talk to you soon.