Transcript - Sky News Sunday Agenda - 5 October 2025

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

5 October 2025

Transcript

Sky News Sunday Agenda with Andrew Clennell

Topics: Hastie resignation; Optus; Triple Zero outage; Palestinian statehood; Sydney protests.

E&OE …

Andrew Clennell

Alright, live on the desk now is Shadow Communications Minister, Melissa McIntosh. Thank for your time.

Melissa McIntosh

Thank you.

Andrew Clennell

I thought we’d be talking all about Optus. We will talk about that, but we have to start with Andrew Hastie. I’m sure you can understand. Now you're a close colleague of Sussan Ley, why did she find it necessary to write these charter letters? Because that's usually reserved for Prime Ministers, not Shadows.

Melissa McIntosh

Yeah, it's the first time for me that I've only been in Shadow Cabinet for a short period since just before the election and it's part of normal organisational process really. So, if you're in the private sector, you get a charter letter, or if, you know, you’re in a government department. So I think it's pretty appropriate. Mine lays - I won't go into the detail, but just lays out some of the expectations based on conversations. It just makes it clear what the KPIs are, what we should deliver policy wise which is important because a lot of Australians said we lacked policy intent at the last election.

Clennell

Has it backfired here though?

McIntosh

In regards to Andrew speaking? Well, I think Andrew made his point clear and I'm a good friend of Andrew, I think he's wonderful and he's been very supportive of me during my career as well so I'm not going to say anything against Andrew but he made his point clear on why he couldn't stay in Shadow Cabinet because of the Westminster system. He's quite traditional and you know, that's his decision that he's made and his alone.

Clennell

Is there anything - what's been reported is that he says, look, Paul Scarr has made carriage over immigration. Is there anything like that in your charter letter which delineates some part of your portfolio to someone else?

McIntosh

Not in my portfolio, there's a Shadow Regional Communications Minister who I work really closely with on Webster, she's a Nat and there's other crossover areas like AI, I work closely ...

Clennell

What is that in your letter? That sort of detail?

McIntosh

There's consistent detail across the letters based on the conversation with the Leader.

Clennell

You've got some heavy hitters on the sidelines now, don't you, Andrew Hastie, Jacinta Price, Jane Hume. It's got to be a problem for Sussan Ley doesn't it?

McIntosh

I would much prefer that my colleagues were back in Shadow Cabinet. Andrew made such a strong contribution. You know, he's done great work for our party. But he's made his decision - I don't think, and he's not indicating that there's any other intent behind it except for not being able to voice his opinions on immigration. I can feel that for him because I come from an outer metro seat where high immigration is putting pressure on infrastructure. Infrastructure costs are out of control, our hospitals are bursting at the seams, major roads around Western Sydney International Airport have pop holes on them still. So, I can see why he has this as an issue. It's important to his community. It's important to my community.

Clennell

The feeling is from sections of the right that Paul Scarr’s too dripping wet on this issue. Is that right?

McIntosh

I don't believe that. He's a great guy. I work very closely with Paul on a number of things. I think he's a decent and very, you know, well regarded Shadow Minister.

Clennell

Do you think Andrew Hastie should sort of put up or shut up in terms of his interest in the leadership here?

McIntosh

Why does he need to do that? It's part of the great nature of the Liberal Party that we do get to have individuals and the freedom to speak, but we need to be on the backbench to do that.

Clennell

You could describe the actions of Hastie, Price as ill disciplined.

McIntosh

I would rather say passionate.

Clennell

They're passionate.

McIntosh

Yeah.

Clennell

They're passionately doing things that hurt the leader. Is there anything better Sussan Ley could handle in terms of the relationship with her colleagues. Or why is this happening?

McIntosh

I think Andrew made it clear that he was doing what he was doing so he could have - the Leader could be free to do what she needs to do. So, I think he made it clear that he wasn't doing it to cause any issues with the Leader. Sussan's made clear what her expectations are of her senior team. She's made that clear from the start. And part of that is the policy development process. And Andrew’s specifically said that in regards to immigration policy why he's stepped aside. He's had his say. He had a press conference yesterday. I don't think I've got anything more to add.

Clennell

I just - it seems to me there's a disrespect from some of your colleagues towards your leader because Peter Dutton went to the election with net zero and Andrew Hastie didn't resign then.

McIntosh

Yeah, I can't speak on behalf of Andrew except to say from his public statement yesterday he was stepping aside out of respect for the Leader. In my portfolio, you know, I've got work to do and things to concentrate on and, you know, I'm very happy to take the charter letter and get moving because Australians are expecting us to have policy.

Clennell

How would you describe the job Sussan Ley's done so far?

McIntosh

I think she's being collaborative. She's come in at a very tough time. We're really scraping the bottom, aren't we? Australians are very disappointed in us. So, you can't expect that when we're in such a dismal state in the parliamentary terms that things are always going to be bright and fuzzy and we're all having a beautiful time. It's really tough. We're developing policy again in some respects from the very beginning. People rejected us at the last election. Sussan has a tough job and her team are all behind her.

Clennell

Alright, let's move to this Optus Triple Zero scandal. Tim Ayres says it's all Optus. It's all their fault.

McIntosh

Come on. This is typical government, you know, hands off. The Minister for Communications left the country. Four people died. This is Australians’ lives. This isn't just an Optus issue. People could not call Triple Zero in their greatest time of need. They just couldn't do it. So, Australians need to have confidence in Triple Zero, in our most essential network and they need to have confidence in the government. And the government is letting Australians down. Firstly, by the Minister leaving. Secondly by the Minister not acting on the recommendations that Optus first had an outage in 2023. And also by appointing ACMA, the regulator to investigate when ACMA is part of the failed process. Australians should be asking very serious questions of this Minister, and of this government and their concern for the Australian people. 

Clennell

What steps if in any could the government have put in place a couple of years ago that could have prevented this?

McIntosh

Well, there were 18 recommendations that were released a year and a half ago. A year and a half the government's been sitting on the report and they could have been putting things in place, like having a custodian, you know, having a real focus on the whole Triple Zero network. Not just Optus. This is about confidence in the whole Triple Zero network. The Minister herself has the powers to immediately act. She doesn't need legislation, she just needs sign off from Cabinet to have an investigation into office and do some things about it. Now we're looking in the closing days of Parliament for the year, but there'll be rushed legislation because she didn't act and the government didn't act earlier.

Clennell

Do you think that the government could have done something which would have prevented this? Is that your belief?

McIntosh

I think that's going to be an important question as part of the investigation that the government has done everything in its power, every single lever. There were warning signs in 2023 when Optus had the first outage. No one died. People died this time. As I said, this is life and death.

Clennell

Guess what I said I'm trying to get to, and look, you know, you make a mind about it if you don't want, but do you believe it's possible the government is responsible for the deaths of people here?

McIntosh

Optus, it was Optus’ outage. So, the government could have put recommendations into place to ensure the stability of the Triple Zero network.

Clennell

So is Optus …

McIntosh

That’s its responsibility to the Australian people.

Clennell

Could Optus be responsible for people dying?

McIntosh

Well, that's going to come out of the investigation. That's why I'm saying you need a thorough independent investigation that is separate to ACMA.

Clennell

Who do you believe should be doing that investigation?

McIntosh

Well, it should be run by experts. The Minister can appoint anyone that she wants. I just don't want ACMA to be doing it because they're part of - how can you investigate yourself when you're part of the failed process.

Clennell

Sure, like a retired judge or what sort of … 

McIntosh

It could be experts in telco. It could be a panel, it could be anyone. But ACMA found out about the outage on Thursday because by law Optus had to alert ACMA. The Minister didn't find out, she says until Friday. Why didn't the regulator alert the Minister? There was a whole day in between. So something failed in that process.

McIntosh

Do you have confidence in SingTel?

McIntosh

Well, I think Australians are starting to lack confidence in the Triple Zero network firstly which is disastrous if that happens and then certainly lacking confidence in Optus because of this. This isn't their first time and it’s resulted in deaths. Of course they’d be lacking confidence.

Clennell

The former New South Wales Liberal leader Gladys Berejiklian as part of the Optus senior executive team. We haven't heard from her. Should she be out there explaining what's happened?

McIntosh

I think a CEO should be out but the CEO came out and I think spoke to the Australian people maybe once or twice early on and then disappeared. The Minister came out once appointed ACMA, the regulator, to investigate it and then shot off overseas when people have died. So there are failures all along the way. And I think, and the government's ...

Clennell

What about Ms Berejiklian? She's chief customer officer.

McIntosh

She's not the CEO though is she.

Clennell

Doesn't have to address it publicly in your view?

McIntosh

The CEO always has the ultimate responsibility. In any crisis, the CEO should step up and claim responsibility which he did. 

Clennell

I wanted to ask about Palestine. There seems a perception from the Federal Government their push for state would actually helped achieve peace if it happens, what do you make of that?

McIntosh

Tell the PM he's dreaming if he thinks that he had a whole lot of influence. President Trump and the US Administration seemed to working on this for some time. They actually publicly said that Australia's position on this was more of a hindrance than a help. So I think the Prime Minister should firstly be focusing on Australians first. He was away when this Triple Zero outage happens as well, but also shouldn't be claiming wins for something that he wasn't particularly involved with.

Clennell

And what do you make of the prospect of a Palestinian protest on the Opera House forecourt next week?

McIntosh

I think, and I know your guest prior to me said ‘as long, you know, as long as it's respectable’. What respect is there in having a protest around the day over a thousand Jews were slaughtered. There's nothing respectful in having a protest at the Opera House, one of our most well known recognised icons, at that point in time. So I think you were right to ask that question about it, and the timing being off. So I hope the New South Wales Government uses all its numbers to stop that protest happening.

Clennell

And just finally back in Canberra for Parliament. This week it is the school holidays and it's a parliamentary sitting week. That's a bit unusual. It happened last year as well. Do you have a view on that?

McIntosh

The Prime Minister promised Australians that Parliament, the Parliament he leads, the country he leads, would be more family friendly. Yet we are being dragged away from our families during school holiday time. So this is another let down by the PM, another broken promise. You know, we've got to work all of us work. When we're not in Parliament, we are still working really hard in our portfolios, in our electorates, but pulling people away from their families wouldn't help us not to do that is pretty rough.

Clennell

Melissa McIntosh, thanks so much for your time.

McIntosh

Thank you.