Mark Coulton (Parkes, National Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Ageing and the Voluntary Sector) Share this | Hansard source

I actually spoke on my mobile phone in Dunedoo the week before last. I can hold a conversation from Dubbo through Dunedoo and Coolah right up Mullaley into Gunnedah and it does not drop out. This is one of the falsehoods that has been put around. I am not denying that we have problems with telecommunications. That is why I am speaking to this bill and that is why I think it is appalling that the new government is taking away this infrastructure fund and putting it into the cities. This telecommunications debate is doing enormous harm to regional Australia because it is actually slanting the real picture. We have farmers right across the electorate now doing business as they sit on their tractors. In my last harvest, I was dealing with three or four grain traders interstate and I was keeping up to date with the latest cargo prices on my satellite broadband under the HiBIS scheme that was brought in by the previous government, even though I was living in a remote area. I might add that, upon complaints from our local areas, Telstra spent over $1 million on my local remote exchange and the people where I formerly lived had their issues addressed. I think we need to keep a balance in this debate.

The issue of telecommunications involves more than mobile phones; it also involves broadband. Some of the areas where my electorate is deficient in broadband might surprise you, Mr Deputy Speaker. Dubbo is the largest town in my electorate and large areas of Dubbo do not have broadband access. They do have access to broadband on the Next G network, but it is dearer than ADSL. It is causing enormous problems. I was speaking to a teacher who is doing a masters degree and was frustrated at not having ADSL connected to his house whereas the people on the other side of the street did. The proposal by the previous government, with the OPEL consortium, to install WiMAX would have solved this problem in Dubbo in a very short time. I know that the people of Dubbo cannot wait for a fibre-to-the-node system to be delivered by 2013. They need a reliable broadband service now. They were waiting with great anticipation for the rollout of the OPEL network and have been disappointed that that has not happened. The other issue with broadband is that with ADSL we have good coverage in the towns but we need to continue the HiBIS scheme with satellite connections in regional areas. Broadband is vitally important for people in regional Australia. Due to their isolation, many children are now doing their lessons by broadband on satellite. Many people undertaking tertiary education are doing remote courses using broadband. We need to make sure that people in regional Australia are kept up to date with the latest technology when it comes out.

With the overall debate on the proposal to raid the infrastructure fund, I think that the government should reconsider. Rural Australia is on the verge of growth. The quality of life in city areas has got to the stage now where people are looking inland. It is important that we keep that infrastructure rolled out so that people can do business in regional areas. I know with transport, it is important that companies can keep track of their trucks and, for safety, drivers need to be in touch with home bases all the time, so we need to fill in these holes in mobile coverage. The bill takes away the measures that were put in place by the previous government to protect the people of rural and regional Australia. I think that the warning bells should probably be ringing, because one of the first bills introduced by the new government into this House is attacking rural and regional Australia. We in regional Australia are not looking for a superior service to that of the cities, but we are looking for an equal service.

I think fibre to the node is an ill-conceived proposal. It is estimated that it will take until 2013 to roll out and it is supposedly going to achieve 98 per cent coverage, but I can guess where that other two per cent will be. The other issue with fibre to the node is that it is replicating a network and giving the opportunity for monopoly control over broadband. It will take broadband away from the system and out of the exchanges we have now. A parallel network will be set up which will give the opportunity for monopoly control over future broadband. I think that the government needs to consider this aspect of the rollout. If this bill is passed then the money that should be spent on ensuring that regional areas get the telecommunications upgrade they need will be diverted back in Labor’s city based policies. This bill comes at a time when money needs to be spent on improving telecommunications in rural and regional Australia. This bill is not in the best interest of rural and regional Australians and I strongly oppose it.

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