John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

It is untrue, as the Leader of the Opposition alleges, to suggest that the government is only now doing something about this issue. I remind the Leader of the Opposition that as a result of government programs over the last three years some 1.3 million additional premises have obtained access to broadband. That is, 1.3 million premises have obtained access to broadband as a result of government programs over the last three years. Although this is an unsatisfactory figure, approximately 50 per cent of Australians can currently access broadband at 12 megabits per second. I would also point out to the Leader of the Opposition that the Competitive Grants Program, the result of which was announced by me and my colleagues this morning, was foreshadowed some time ago and work on that commenced after the completion of the sale of Telstra.

The Leader of the Opposition invites me to say something about the availability of services in certain parts of Australia. I am very happy to say that in the electorate of Macquarie, so ably represented by the Chief Government Whip, seven exchanges will be upgraded to very fast ADSL2+ broadband and 15 new wireless broadband sites will be built in the region. The very fast updates will occur in Bathurst, Blackheath, Hazelbrook, Katoomba—two sites—Lawson and Wentworth Falls. As to the wireless broadband sites—that is, 12 megabits per second—

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