The Nationals Senator for Queensland, Barnaby Joyce has welcomed his Party’s leverage over the five pieces of telecommunications legislation that passed through the Senate yesterday.

“The Howard Government has implemented its long standing commitment to fully privatise Telstra. In the process The Nationals have secured more than $3 billion which with public private partnerships could extend to more than $6 billion in new regional and rural telecommunication infrastructure.

“This will ensure Australians have adequate telecommunications services both now and into the future,” Senator Joyce said.

The Nationals have leveraged in their negotiations the Connect Australia package which will rollout affordable broadband connections to people living in regional, rural and remote areas, extend mobile phone coverage, build new regional communications networks and set up vital telecommunications services for remote Indigenous communities.

It includes $878 million for Broadband Connect to provide all Australians with affordable broadband services; $113 million for Clever Networks to fund broadband networks to improve health, education and other essential services; and $90 million for Backing Indigenous Ability which will, among other things, improve internet services for remote Indigenous communities.

This $1.1 billion package is now available after the passage of legislation through both Houses and is the biggest regional telecommunications assistance program in Australia’s history.

Further to this, a perpetual $2 billion Communications Fund will be established with cash when the bills receive Royal Assent.

The money from the Fund will be used to roll-out of new telecommunications services identified as needed by three-yearly reviews of telecommunications services in rural, regional and remote Australia. The first of these reviews will be conducted in 2008 and the Nationals’ Senator Joyce has leverage that key regional and rural bodies are represented on the Committee that review the allocation of funds. Peak bodies would include organisations such as the Country Women’s Association and AgForce.

The Bills passed by the Senate also cement and augment significant regulatory and consumer safeguards attained for Queensland by Senator Joyce and The Nationals. These enforce quicker repair time and greater service commitment.

The Government will now introduce operational separation of Telstra’s internal operations to deal with ongoing concerns about Telstra’s high degree of integration; improve competition regulation and enhance consumer safeguards such as the Customer Service Guarantee.

The Howard Government still owns Telstra and will consider whether to sell its remaining shareholding next year.