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

The problem is that we are ranked 50th for broadband speeds, and we do not have one city in the top 100 in the world for broadband speeds. Located where we are, in this region, where Korea and Hong Kong and Singapore and many of our competitors are rolling out fibre to the home, located in a region where information technology is so important for competition, I do not think that is good enough. That is the problem. We are falling behind the region. New Zealand are rolling out fibre to the home—and I say if it is good enough for New Zealand, it is good enough for us. Only last week a broadband quality survey found Australia fell from 18th to 21st in the world broadband rankings. We are going backwards at an enormous rate. The fact is, it simply is not good enough.

Those opposite have rolled out a number of statements about Tasmania. Here is what Stephen Love, from Galloways Pharmacy in Scottsdale, has had to say:

I’ve taken a 100 mbit speed offer, that’s actually very close to the cost of my previous ADSL2+ connection. The NBN will provide huge potential, for lots of new applications, especially in health, which is of interest to me, being a pharmacist.

That is what Stephen Love has had to say. Yet those opposite continue to be critical. The implementation study said an annual take-up rate of between six and 12 per cent was what was needed to be viable, and yet we have had an 11 per cent take-up rate in three months. Again, those opposite know full well that one contract has to be finished with a provider before anyone can go onto a new contract. They know that full well, but they come in here and ask juvenile questions which could have come from the member for Bradfield when I was on the University of Sydney SRC with him, when he was a supporter of Belinda Neal. I was right then, and I am right today. It is a student council type of strategy to wreck the National Broadband Network. The fact is that this is a vital resource for Australia. Ben Grubb, from the Sydney Morning Herald, has said this:

Is the federal government duping us to get us on to its national broadband network by decommissioning Telstra’s copper network? I think they are and I think it is for our own good.

Accept it: It’s coming and it’s a free connection!

The replacement of the outdated copper network with the fibre-to-the-home network, the communications technology for the 21st century, is something about which we are very proud.

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