Tony Windsor (New England, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Isn’t it great to see some competition for the regional vote? I think the broadband debate and some of the debates on water and climate change are starting to embrace the issues that are very important to country people. I was interested to hear the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry—I see that he is leaving the chamber—cite the National Farmers Federation as a source of knowledge on this issue. I think their behaviour during the telecommunications debate has been disgraceful. The duplicity of the former president, Peter Corish, on this issue is something that will go down in the history of the farming community and country Australians.

Infrastructure is obviously critical to country Australians, particularly telecommunications infrastructure. As I have said a number of times in this chamber, telecommunications is the one piece of infrastructure that negates distance and location as being a disadvantage to living in the country. We talk about railway lines and roads—and they are important—but telecommunications, broadband particularly, is the infrastructure of this century. We need to look past the politics involved in this issue and get it right. There are a number of things happening here. It is not just a city-country issue. It is also about where this nation places itself globally in terms of telecommunications. The game that is being played at the moment in trying to capture the minds of the Australian public on this issue is a little pitiful. We should get this right. If it does cost money and it does use up some of the Communications Fund and some of the Future Fund to put it in place and get it right, that is what the Australian public would expect and demand of any government, or potential government, into the future.

The government says it is going to guarantee high-speed broadband services to 99 per cent of the population and I am told that there are a series of maps available on the spread of that communication. Given some of the concerns, particularly about wireless but also satellite, regarding location, geography et cetera and atmospheric conditions, one of the things the government could do is outline—and I hope the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources will do so today; I am told he is very informed on this issue—who the one per cent are—

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