Australian Politics and Policy - Senior, 2019a

Communication policy
exercise of Commonwealth power has effectively excluded the states from policy
measures that might, for example, have given the institutions of broadcasting a
more regional flavour, as occurred in Germany. 41
Beyond these areas, the Constitution leaves considerable room for the states
to make laws about other matters relevant to communications. In areas such as
classification of content, defamation and advertising, separate state laws were
eventually integrated into more-or-less uniform national schemes. In areas like
racial, religious and other forms of discrimination and vilification, the reporting
of court proceedings, whistleblower protections, and freedom of information (or
‘right to information’), significant differences in state and territory laws remain. 42
Federal, state and local laws interact in regulating the construction and maintenance
of networks by telecommunications companies, especially mobile towers
and overhead cables. The aim here is to strike a balance between the communications
policy goal of reliable, affordable services and the desire of landowners,
local communities and councils to shape the sometimes intrusive infrastructure of
their own spaces. 43
State governments have also chosen to spend money to pursue communications
policy goals where federal government policy is regarded as falling short,
or where co-investment can deliver better outcomes. For example, the Victorian
government has invested in free public wi-fi in large regional centres. It has also
funded mobile base stations in areas with poor or no mobile coverage and to
improve coverage along busy regional rail lines. Aiming to support community
activities, to assist public safety particularly during emergencies, and to boost
economic activity and employment including through the ‘visitor economy’, state
and territory governments have often co-invested in such programs with telecoms
carriers, local councils and the federal government. Around 35 local councils in
New South Wales hold equal shares in Southern Phone, a provider of commercial
fixed and mobile phone and internet services designed to bring competition, and
hence improved services and lower prices, to regional areas. It was set up in 2002
with federal funding from the Telstra sale proceeds. Councils have also used their
planning and licensing powers in creative ways to support cultural activities and
infrastructure, such as the Special Entertainment Precinct in Brisbane’s Fortitude
Valley.
Research into the relationship between the federally funded NBN and local
government, especially in the areas of e-governance, socio-economic development
and spatial planning, found ‘a raft of mostly unscrutinised policy initiatives’
developed to guide the early rollout and post-construction phase. This included
‘some policy development regarding the socio-economic implications of the new
41 Tworek 2015.
42 Pearson and Polden 2019 is a detailed, practical account of these and related laws and ethical
principles.
43 Australian Government, Department of Communications and the Arts 2018.
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