Senator Simon Birmingham today called for ongoing monitoring of the impact on rural and regional Australians of Telstra switching off its CDMA mobile phone network later this month. It follows today’s decision by the Communications Minister to allow closure of the network on 28 April, on the basis that Telstra had met the…
The Communications Minister must heed the concerns of regional consumers in South Australia and elsewhere and put on hold Telstra’s planned CDMA network switch off, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. “Poor network coverage, conflicting advice from Telstra on handsets and poor levels of service are all among concerns related to me by South…
Waste management will be the subject of a parliamentary inquiry, after the Senate passed a motion moved by Senator Simon Birmingham this morning. The move comes as the federal and state governments claim to be working towards a phase-out of single-use plastic bags by 2009, but with the Rudd Government flip flopping on…
The proposed Mandatory Renewable Energy Targets (MRET) scheme should include clean coal technologies such as carbon storage, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. Senator Birmingham has written to Professor Ross Garnaut urging him to consider the role of carbon sequestration as part of his review into the effects of climate change on the Australian…
Poor network coverage, conflicting advice from Telstra on handsets and poor levels of service are among key concerns South Australians have with making the transition to Telstra’s Next G network, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. Senator Birmingham invited South Australians to report their experiences and concerns, following the Communications Minister’s decision in January…
The Prime Minister yesterday confirmed he is passing the buck on the River Murray, contrary to his pre-election assurance that the buck would stop with him. Senator Simon Birmingham said Mr Rudd’s refusal to engage himself in negotiations with Victoria over national management of the river was a breach of faith with South…
Senator Simon Birmingham today expressed disappointment at revelations the Rudd Labor Government had broken election commitments in relation to the National Plan for Water Security to the tune of at least $85 million. Water Minister Penny Wong today told a Senate Additional Estimates committee that despite an election commitment to bring forward to…
A truly independent panel must be appointed to select future Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Board members, Senator Simon Birmingham today. A so-called “independent panel” is planned to provide Communications Minister Stephen Conroy with a shortlist for board vacancies as part of Labor’s election policies, a scheme similar to the BBC’s board appointment process.…
Senator Simon Birmingham has called on the Member for Wakefield, Nick Champion, to speak for himself and not try to put words into the mouths of others. Responding to a press release issued by Mr Champion, Senator Birmingham said that Mr Champion needed to be careful his party’s industrial relations reforms don’t sell…
Senator Simon Birmingham today called on Communications Minister Stephen Conroy to publicly confirm he will not unnecessarily delay signing off on a business plan to deliver a new high speed wireless broadband network to rural Australia. Optus and Elders joint venture OPEL’s business plan for building its wholesale broadband network in regional and…