Brett Whiteley (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today marks yet another positive day in the life of this government and in the life of the NBN Co. The NBN is back on track. If it had not been for the intervention of this government, the project that was supposed to have finished in 2019 would have been finished in 2024; the cost would have blown out by $29 billion; and consumers would have been paying anywhere around 80 per cent more for their internet bills.

The great news today for my electorate of Braddon is that the next 18-month rollout has been announced, and the first tranche of that rollout has been confirmed. I can say today that the city of Devonport, the biggest city of my electorate, and the surrounding areas will be the first to be rolled out, on 1 July next year. I would hope that those people in that area of my electorate would have high-speed broadband by this time next year. The rollout plan also notes every other part of my electorate within this next 18-month rollout. That is exciting news. Hopefully in the next two or three months I will be able to confirm even more, closer dates for those other parts of my electorate.

Can I pay tribute to the minister, Malcolm Turnbull, his staff and his department. They have got this project back under control. This was an absolute mess. Those opposite can put out all the brochures they like, and they can make all the speeches they like, but anyone who knows anything about business knows that this was a complete and utter stuff-up. It is back on track, and it is back on track in Braddon.