Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson is facing potential legal consequences after making two test calls to Triple Zero during a nationwide Telstra outage. Making false calls to the emergency service is a criminal offense that can carry a maximum penalty of three years imprisonment.
Henderson, who serves as the shadow communications minister, stated she made the calls on Wednesday to ascertain whether the emergency network was functioning. "I was simply, as the shadow minister for communications, making those initial calls to work out whether the ... system was actually operating," she told 2GB. She acknowledged the criticism but maintained her actions were necessary in her role of holding the government accountable.
Industry Minister Tim Ayres condemned Henderson's actions, describing them as "reckless" and "utterly irresponsible." He urged the public not to emulate her behavior.
However, Opposition Leader Angus Taylor defended Henderson, accusing the Albanese government of prioritizing politics over addressing the outage. He argued that Henderson was compelled to act due to a lack of information from government ministers. "If [Communications Minister Anika Wells] hadn't been absent for seven hours, Sarah wouldn't have had to do these things," Taylor stated. He asserted that Henderson's actions were "not illegal" and were necessitated by ministerial failure, which he believes should be the focus of national attention.
Communications Minister Anika Wells returned from a planned leave to manage the crisis on Wednesday afternoon. Minister for Emergency Management Kristy McBain had released a statement on the issue earlier that morning.
Other Coalition members, including opposition regional communications spokesperson Anne Webster and opposition defence spokesperson James Paterson, echoed Taylor's defense. Webster suggested Henderson's inquiry was reasonable for a shadow minister needing to assess network functionality. Paterson characterized the government's focus on Henderson's calls as a "desperate attempt to distract from their own failures."
The Telstra outage disrupted services across Australia, preventing millions of users from making calls, accessing mobile data, and utilizing electronic payment systems. Telstra reported that the number of welfare checks conducted was higher than usual, likely inflated by individuals testing Triple Zero. By Thursday afternoon, 639 welfare checks had been completed, with seven individuals requiring emergency assistance and 170 referred to police. The telecommunications company is also investigating a second outage that affected call services, including those to emergency numbers, and advised customers experiencing issues with Triple Zero to retry their calls.