Sid Sidebottom (Braddon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I just remind the member for Cowper what this matter of public importance is really all about; it is about obstructionism, negativism and hypocrisy. If those opposite are so enamoured with the Productivity Commission, they might have had a cost-benefit analysis done of the Adelaide to Darwin railway. They did not. They might have had a Productivity Commission cost-benefit analysis done on the privatisation of Telstra when they flogged it off, but they did not. We know about the results of that too.

If the member for Wentworth was so keen on it, he might have had a cost-benefit analysis done of his $10 billion water plan. What happened to that? Of course, if he did have such interest in a cost-benefit analysis by the Productivity Commission, he might have had one done of the OPEL regional broadband plan. The member for Wentworth should not come in here and pretend to be interested in advancing broadband and telecommunications in Australia. That is just nonsense. The member for Wentworth is about destroying the NBN because that is the mandate that was given to him by the leader of his party, who does not understand ‘techo stuff’, as he so rightly said. We know what he is all about, so do not pretend otherwise.

What are we really talking about with the NBN? I think it is really important that we remember this: it is about connecting 93 per cent of premises in Australia with optical fibre, delivering speeds of up to one gigabit per second—that is, 1,000 times faster than many people experience today—and the seven per cent of remaining premises will receive next generation wireless and satellite technology, providing speeds of 12 megabits per second or more. That is what we are talking about. Why do we need it? It was put succinctly by Rupert Murdoch, who said that the reason we need it is that internet delivery and broadband in Australia is a disgrace. I find it quite ironic that one of his stable is in the commentariat business of promoting opposition to the NBN, namely through the Australian. I find that pretty interesting, but no doubt he still regards it as a disgrace.

When we look comparatively internationally, why do we need it? Those opposite might not like to hear this: Australia is ranked 17th out of 31 developed countries on broadband penetration; Australia is the fifth most expensive amongst 30 developed countries on broadband prices; Australia is 50th in terms of broadband speeds; Australia is equal last on deployment of optic fibre broadband; and Australia is 29th out of 50 countries on average connection speed at 2.6 megabits per second. No Australian city is in the top 100 cities for average internet connection speed. Australia is last in the OECD for fibre penetration for broadband. They are the facts. That is the existing situation. That is why we need the National Broadband Network.

While we are doing this, part and parcel of some of the economic benefits that we will receive through the National Broadband Network include that, on average, 25,000 jobs will be supported every year over the life of the eight-year project, peaking at 37,000 jobs. Even the Australian Local Government Association stated in its 2007-08 State of the regions report that $3.2 billion and 33,000 jobs were lost to Australian businesses in 12 months due to the inadequate broadband infrastructure. That is the assessment of others of the potential of this for the future of our nation.

What have those opposite provided? We have been reminded that we are up to their 19th broadband plan, that it made up of the old technologies and it has been rejected time and again. I found it very interesting to look at some of the commentary on the opposition’s broadband plan at the last election. It was that good that they dumped their opposition spokesperson. He is floating around up the backblocks somewhere, having been rewarded for his contribution—something he never believed in because he was unable to explain it; nor was their finance spokesperson or their leader able to explain it. I think that has very serious consequences for the credibility of the policies of those opposite. They do not have a credible policy but they are prepared to knock the policy that belongs here. Some industry executives said that it ‘harked back to an earlier era’ and that it ‘lacked vision’ and was ‘muddy and unclear’. I notice that the iPrimus CEO, Ravi Bhatia, referring to the policy of those opposite, said, ‘What policy?’ That is what those opposite were left with, yet they come in here and lecture us about providing infrastructure for the nation into the future.

The NBN plan itself has public and on-the-record support from prominent ISPs in Australia including iiNet, Internode, iPrimus, Macquarie Telecom, Adam Internet and Dodo. They are just some of the ISPs—

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