Angus Taylor Defends Shadow Minister's Triple-Zero Calls Amid Outage Fallout

Angus Taylor says his shadow communications minister Sarah Henderson was “doing her job” when she “tested” the triple-zero system by making unnecessary calls to it during Telstra’s nationwide outage.

The opposition leader has also dismissed concerns about Liberal senator Kerrynne Liddle’s claim that an elderly person died as a result of the outage on Wednesday, after South Australian police initially said they were unaware of any such death.

The police issued a statement late on Thursday to confirm it was now investigating a death in regional SA after speaking with Liddle and making contact with a family member of the deceased person.

The fallout from Wednesday’s outage has continued, with Telstra confirming on Thursday morning some customers struggled to make triple-zero calls due to a “secondary issue”. Telstra said the occurrence of the secondary triple-zero issue had been reduced by 90%.

Taylor accused the government of failing to do its job and focusing on “political spin” after ministers, including Tim Ayres, criticised Henderson’s actions for being “utterly irresponsible”.

Criminal penalties can apply against any individuals who place calls to triple zero when there is not an emergency, but Henderson has said she was trying to work out if the system was working and her role placed her in a “unique position”.

Taylor deflected questions about Henderson’s decision to call triple zero more than once on Wednesday, and stood by her actions in a combative press conference on Thursday.

“This government focuses all its time and effort on political spin and none of its time and effort on the real issues facing Australians,” the Liberal leader said.

“So, the shadow minister had to do what she had to do, because of the failure of the minister – not for the first time – but for the second time.

“I’ve said to Sarah [Henderson] that she should do her job, and she was doing her job, and that’s exactly … what I’ll continue to say.”

Questions were also raised about Liddle’s claim, made in a social media post, that a South Australian had died as a result of the outage, despite not first confirming the report with state police.

Taylor said he hadn’t spoken to the South Australian senator, but brushed off any criticism about the post.

“There were distressing reports made to her office, and … that’s what she’s reported on,” he said.

Liddle’s post, which remained online on Thursday afternoon, claimed an elderly person could not connect to triple zero during a “life-or-death emergency”, and died as a result.

“No Australian should ever be unable to connect to triple-zero when their life depends on it,” Liddle wrote.

In response to the claim, police said they were “not aware of any death in South Australia today as a result of the Telstra nationwide outage”.

On Thursday, South Australia’s police minister, Michael Brown, criticised Liddle’s actions, saying: “if people are going to make claims publicly, they need to be able to back them up”.

But Liddle has defended her actions, saying she was “disappointed” that Brown “chose to front the media and question my integrity in this process”.

In a statement, she said her office had advised the family to inform the police of the incident.

“Amid much public interest, I prioritised the privacy of the family during this time. I stand with them,” Liddle said.

“Reporting suggests Australians were still unable to get through to Triple Zero overnight due to ongoing issues with the Telstra network. That is completely unacceptable.

“Anyone impacted by this outage should tell their story to Telstra, Minister Anika Wells and to relevant authorities. Our thoughts remain with the family.”

In a statement at 4pm on Thursday, SA police had commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death after speaking with Liddle and a staffer member earlier in the day.

The police said it had repeatedly tried – and failed – to contact Liddle for information about the Facebook post on Wednesday night.

The statement said police advised one of her staff that it had no knowledge of the death and requested Liddle provide any information.

“Her staff member advised her office would not be providing any information to police,” the statement read.

“On Thursday 9 July, police attended the office of Senator Liddle and spoke with both the staff member and Senator Liddle. As a result, contact was subsequently made with the family of an individual who died at a regional hospital on Wednesday 8 July.

“Police were not notified of the death. After being advised of the death, police immediately commenced an investigation into the cause and circumstances”

The communications minister, Anika Wells, said on Wednesday that welfare checks were being conducted on people who had been unable to reach triple zero.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority will review the incident.