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

You will get your turn later, mate. Just settle. The Australian Internet Industry Association issued a statement supporting the NBN, outlining the problems of the alternatives based on wireless networks that those opposite have thrown up and criticising the comparative speed of broadband in Australia. I quote:

It is not a ‘nice to have’; it is an essential part of the modern economy.

Indeed, it went on to say:

In the past decade Australia’s internet use has grown by a staggering 12,000%. That rate is accelerating. Yet despite this, we are now ranked 50th in the world in terms of our average broadband speeds.

On 21 September Telstra announced they were signing on to be a provider of services under the NBN, launching a trial in—guess where?—Tasmania to test the compatibility of its broadband service and digital products with the NBN.

I notice that, after the drawn result in the election, those who were charged with making a decision to support one of the major parties to form government essentially supported the Gillard Labor government based on the NBN. Tony Windsor, the member for New England, said—and I think it is very accurate:

… you do it once, you do it right and you do it with fibre.

My good friend the member for Kennedy was similarly reported as agreeing that:

The national grid and NBN and are a good thing for this country, a great thing for this country.

Others have given their support. Google and Intel have spoken out in strong support of the NBN. Indeed, Intel’s managing director, Phil Cronin, said the government and industry should stop debating the need for the NBN. He said:

It’s now time to move beyond debate … the NBN has the potential to deliver significant long term benefits to consumers and small businesses alike.

Microsoft have also added their support to the NBN project, saying:

This infrastructure will be critical in the years ahead and essential for reducing costs in health and education service delivery. It will also contribute to overcoming the tyranny of distance that exists in rural and regional Australia.

I also note, in the little time left available to me, the point made by Alan Noble, Engineering Director of Google Australia, in relation to the NBN:

The national broadband network will be the digital equivalent of the trans-Australian railway linking small towns and large, bringing new life and new opportunities to our economy and our communities.

… so too will a super-fast broadband network bring a freight train of innovation to our shores.

I suggest to the member for Wentworth and those opposite that, rather than playing games, rather than being hypocritical, rather than being negative and rather than carrying out a mandate to destroy the NBN, they join the fibre future and support the NBN.

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