Communications Minister Anika Wells has accused Barnaby Joyce of “going off half-cocked” after he alleged Chinese interference might be behind Wednesday’s mass Telstra outage.

Telstra has apologised to customers, including those trying to call triple zero, after the nationwide mobile outage halted trains in two states and hit thousands of businesses.

The telco, which powers about 25 million mobile services across the country, confirmed on Wednesday it was investigating the issue with thousands unable to make calls and access data on their phones from 4.30am.

Telstra chief financial officer Michael Ackland expressed regret for the outage, describing it as intermittent but widespread.

“At this stage, we do not know what the root cause was. I’d rather let the investigations play out,” he said in Melbourne.

But he said there was no reason to suspect malicious players.

One Nation MP Joyce told Sky News on Wednesday that the timing of the outage, just two days after China fired a test missile into the South Pacific, should be investigated.

“I don’t want to be paranoid or a conspiracy theorist, but we know there is the capacity for China to effect that sort of software and that sort of network,” he said.

“It’s better to be cautious and to have things cleared up than to just dismiss that out of hand … I do think [there needs to be] a diligent process.”

Elsewhere, the opposition communications spokeswoman Sarah Henderson told Sky News on Wednesday morning she had called triple zero multiple times to see if her calls would connect.

“In relation to triple zero, I actually tested it myself,” she said.

“Now, Telstra is making very clear, please do not test triple zero. The triple-zero network, I understand, is sound, is working.

“I had a couple of failed calls this morning because, obviously, I needed to know if triple-zero was working and that appears to be rectified.”

Calling triple zero when there is no emergency is potentially a crime.

Wells – who returned from leave for briefings on the outage – said across Australia some emergency calls had failed and about “three dozen” welfare checks were being carried out.

“As a general principle, I think when it comes to matters of national security, you shouldn’t make stuff up. You’ve heard from Telstra’s acting CEO there’s currently no evidence to suggest that those things (foreign interference) are the case. So I think it’s irresponsible,” she said.

“As of today, there is no current evidence … apart from two parliamentarians going off half-cocked, to be honest.”

Wells said so-called “camping-on arrangements” that allowed phones to piggyback onto another network in an emergency were working well.

Western Australian police said the outage had affected triple-zero calls in that state.

“If you are affected and do not have access to an alternative mobile or landline service, police recommend making arrangements with a neighbour, family member, or friend so you can access a working telephone in an emergency,” they said early on Wednesday.

NSW Police said the wider triple-zero network was not affected but calls might not work from Telstra mobiles. They urged people to try another device, landline or use Wi-Fi calling.

Queensland Police said the emergency call network in that state was fully operational.

Telstra, which is Australia’s largest mobile network, said later on Wednesday it had made “good progress” restoring services. About 90 per cent of calls and data were flowing successfully.

“We know how much our customers rely on our network and understand just how much of a disruption this is to your day,” it said.

“For that we’re so sorry. We’ll share further updates until all is resolved.”

The outage also affected other mobile companies that use Telstra’s network, including Aldi Mobile, Belong, Boost Mobile and Tangerine.

Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBain said the government was told the network disturbance had a wide-ranging impact, including on public transport.

She confirmed the service disruption had brought Victoria’s regional train services to a halt, leaving thousands of passengers stranded.

The V/Line network said no trains could run. Limited bus replacements were available but commuters were asked to avoid travel until further notice.

Transport for NSW said trains on its Hunter Line had also been affected. Trains were also halted between Campbelltown in south-west Sydney and Moss Vale and Goulburn.

Eftpos machine company Tyro reported its transactions had been hampered without specifically naming the provider.

Ackland insisted customers should still trust Telstra.

“Australia can absolutely have faith in its biggest telco, and that is Telstra,” he said.

“We take these outages very, very seriously. Our investment in resilience and cybersecurity and redundancy in our network is significant, but it is a big and complex network.”

More than 7500 customers reported the network disturbance on online monitoring platform Downdetector.

The latest outage comes after other telecommunications giants Vodafone and Optus experienced recent gaffes that proved fatal.

In June, Vodafone customers had intermittent reception and data issues across Australia. It said customers who could not access the network were able to use triple zero by connecting to other available mobile networks.

An Optus outage in September 2025, which lasted almost 14 hours and affected hundreds of calls in four states and territories, has been linked to two deaths.

-with AAP