Peter McGauran (Gippsland, National Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

The government welcome this debate on broadband and we are delighted that the opposition—although late to the discussion—has been prepared to list it as a matter of public importance. I am a little surprised, though, that there has not been the traditional focus or attention placed on the matter of public importance during question time. Invariably, the practice is that questions are asked of the Prime Minister or relevant ministers in the lead-up to a matter of public importance immediately following question time—building expectation, creating a sense of drama and setting the scene. But there was not a single question to the government today about broadband. This issue is of such biting importance to the Labor Party that they did not ask a single question about it. I stand to be corrected, but it has been many weeks, if not months—I will go through the Hansard records—since a question was asked in this House by the Labor Party on the broadband issue. This is very much a filler. The Leader of the Opposition is not here at this moment; consequently someone has to take up the matter of public importance, and it has fallen on the former Leader of the Opposition, the member for Hotham.

The government have been rolling out broadband policies and programs since 2002, and it was only a few months ago that the Leader of the Opposition launched a new program which, if you look carefully, is a rehashed Beazley—the member for Brand—policy of about four years ago. There is very little to distinguish it from the earlier version. But no matter; we welcome the Labor Party’s interest. This is an issue of critical concern to all Australians—wherever they live—in economic, social and cultural terms. It goes to the heart of our international competitiveness. That is why the government have invested so much time and so much money into bringing Australia up to a high world standard. We know that a great deal more needs to be done, and there will be announcements before very much longer. In fact, I even chance my arm to say that it is likely that the government will have another major announcement before the week is out, as we further develop broadband policy and invest heavily in it.

The member for Hotham was at pains to stress the Labor Party’s credentials on broadband with its recently released policy. The problem is that the policy ignores regional Australia—for two reasons. The first reason is that it abolishes the regional Communications Fund established by the government—$2 billion—to pay for a policy that is city-centric. There are many areas of Australia that miss out under the Labor Party’s program. A number of regional centres, such as Ballarat, will not be serviced. Traralgon will not be serviced. Wollongong, Canberra, Townsville, Burnie, Geelong and Cairns will not be serviced, and the list goes on. The Labor Party’s policy is for metropolitan centres or capital cities. To help fund its policy, the Labor Party will abolish the regional Communications Fund, which was established by the government to invest directly in regional areas.

We believe that where there is market failure in non-metropolitan areas the taxpayer has a responsibility and will fund it. I noticed that the member for Hotham was critical about the roughly $4 billion that we have already invested in broadband. I think that is something that should be recorded for later reference. He is critical that we have already invested so heavily in regional and rural Australia. That is because there is market failure. That will always be government’s responsibility, but we do not have to invest in metropolitan Australia, because the private sector wants to. Both Telstra and the group of nine telecommunications companies have taken out full-page advertisements saying that they do not need government funding and that they will invest themselves. What they want is for the regulatory regime to be right—and that is what we have to concentrate on. I have heard of suckers before, but I have not heard of a whole political party committing itself to spending $4.7 billion that the private sector has offered to spend.

The second reason that Labor’s policy ignores regional Australia is, of course, that the plan does not work. The plan does not make sense, even leaving aside the financial considerations, which are, firstly, that the private sector has offered to pay the money and, secondly, to help pay for the plan—which they do not have to pay for in the first place—they will abolish the $2 billion regional Communications Fund and, to top it up, take the remaining $2.7 billion from the Future Fund, which is a guaranteed payment for retirees and superannuants. So they will burden future generations for their immediate political purposes and concerns.

Moreover, shockingly, the Labor Party’s plan is hopelessly unambitious: firstly, because it does not reach so many Australians; secondly, we do not believe that the speeds the Labor Party has set are fast enough; and, moreover, it cannot be afforded. It is the laughing stock of the telecommunications industry. A significant number of independent commentators have said the plan as outlined by the Labor Party is unaffordable. The Labor Party says it will connect broadband for $4.7 billion, although you will need another $4 billion according to Senator Conroy, the shadow minister for communications, but that will come from the private sector. So, as I understand, it is a total plan, and it is very difficult to get some consistency in its explanations of $9 billion. We know already that, according to the telecommunications provider PIPE Networks, it would cost at least $16 billion. Telstra has said that it could cost up to $30 billion. Telecommunications analyst Market Clarity has added that the Labor Party’s cost estimates lack detail required to build any sort of realistic network cost model. It is just absurd that firstly the Labor Party would be using $4.7 billion of Australian taxpayers’ funds, stored in the regional Communications Fund and in the Future Fund, to contribute towards a $9 billion program that will not even begin to achieve its objectives. But not to worry: the private sector will pay for the capital cities and the government of the day should help to a greater extent to connect broadband to non-metropolitan, regional and rural areas. The Labor Party is just being reckless.

Our proposal is in stark contrast to that of Labor. Quite frankly, the Labor Party is being economically irresponsible in abolishing a regional Communications Fund and raiding the Future Fund. The Labor Party has no answer for the real issue here, which is the regulatory regime. The government has been in discussions with both Telstra and the group of nine about addressing this issue. Neither will the government dictate the type of technology that an investor has to put its money into because these are decisions best left to the marketplace. The Labor Party’s proposal has no dialogue; it has no detail. The Labor Party’s policy has been exposed as being very light, shallow and thin on detail. It has been discredited because it is uncosted, untested, unworkable and undeliverable. The industry and the public want more detail in regard to the Labor Party proposal.

I issue an invitation to the member for Hotham to start providing detailed costings. How would this joint venture between the government’s $4.7 billion and the private sector’s $4 billion actually work? Moreover, when are we going to get the details? Before the election? I doubt it. In fact, I think it is safe to say now that we are not going to hear another word in regard to this policy in providing further details. I do not believe we are going to see a single question answered. When is the Labor Party going to provide some substance to its generalised assertions? It is simply a cop-out. Despite the regulatory issues being cited by Telstra as the reasons it is yet to invest in fibre, there are no details of Labor’s regulatory regime or system. Labor is afraid to release any more details.

In contrast, the Howard government is committed to providing all Australians with access to high-speed broadband, regardless of where they live. Look at the things we have done in remote Australia and anywhere a broadband service is not available. We have the $163 million Australian Broadband Guarantee program. That is a guarantee that Australians can access a broadband service with a $2,750 subsidy per household. Look at what the government is doing in rural and regional Australia with the $878 million Broadband Connect program, which assists the delivery of a new high-speed national wholesale broadband network. We also have e-health and online education services in regional areas with the $113 million Clever Networks program, which is harnessing smart solutions such as interactive distance education and real-time medical diagnosis, which can save lives. The community is already benefiting from the Howard government’s policies on broadband.

Under the coalition government, 4.3 million Australians have gained access to broadband services and the average price paid by consumers has dropped by 64 per cent since 2000. Today, 90 per cent of Australian premises can access speeds of between two megabytes per second and eight megabytes per second and more than 50 per cent of metropolitan areas can access even faster speeds through ADSL2+ and cable broadband platforms.

We can do better, much better. We are going to do better. An announcement shortly will build on the government’s already huge investment in  infrastructure. The Labor Party needs to realise that you do not need to waste billions of dollars of taxpayers’ funds for the telecommunications industry to invest in highly commercial areas like Sydney and Melbourne. There is critical mass. That is a commercial decision and investment that the telcos are happy to make—they have told us. Telstra and G9 are both prepared to roll out a fibre broadband network in the capital cities and major regional centres without a red cent from the taxpayer. They must have seen you coming with your $4.7 billion offer and thought, ‘All of our Christmases have come at once.’

Both Telstra and the G9 have run full-page advertisements recently and both advertisements highlight the folly of Labor’s broadband policy. For instance, Telstra’s advertisement said this:

Telstra needs no money from Canberra to build a world-leading broadband network.

Then, in another swipe at Labor, the group of nine telecommunications companies advertisement said this:

The group of nine plan does not require taxpayer funds. It will be independently financed.

So why spend $4.7 billion on something the private sector will take up for themselves? It is total recklessness. Instead, the government has an integrated strategy that will provide all Australians with access to high-speed broadband—and especially taking into account where they live, because we do not discriminate between city and rural Australians. But you need a responsible and measured approach. If you try to do this on the run or do it on the back of a serviette, which the Labor Party’s policy, most kindly, can be described—

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