Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

The shadow minister calls his colleague dead wrong; I think in this case his colleague is right and the shadow minister should have a good look at himself. Former National and now popular Independent Tony Windsor supported the decision, noting that fibre-to-the-node infrastructure is the best option. Support for the decision also came from National Party MP John Forrest, who said, ‘I did not support OPEL getting this contract in the first place.’ So did a range of councils around the nation, including the Central West Regional Organisation of Councils, which covers Parkes, Bathurst and Forbes.

The national broadband network, offering minimum connection speeds of 12 megabits per second, will roll out to 98 per cent of Australian premises, including a significant proportion of rural and regional Australia. For that reason, I commend the budget allocation to the House. (Time expired)

Proposed expenditure agreed to.

Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Portfolio

Proposed expenditure, $811,330,000

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