House debates

Wednesday, 30 November 2016

Statements by Members

Broadband

1:41 pm

Photo of Gai BrodtmannGai Brodtmann (Canberra, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I have spoken many, many times in this House about how my community has been totally neglected by the Turnbull government's NBN rollout map. This is despite some areas of Canberra having the lowest quality of internet in the country. This is the nation's capital, people. I recently asked Canberrans to send me screenshots of their internet speeds, to show what it looks like to be living with substandard internet, courtesy of a substandard Prime Minister. The national average download speed is 13.9 megabits per second. Compare these speeds in Canberra: Shaun in Banks, 2.2 megabits per second; Carolyn in Tharwa, 0.3 megabits per second; Gregory in Fadden, 0.2 megabits per second; Karen in Evatt, 0.7 megabits per second. This is in the nation's capital. Karen runs a business out of her home. She is running a business using an internet connection one-twentieth of the national average speed. Her story is a reminder of why this matters. It is about small-business owners not being able to process payments. It is about students waiting hours to stream a 20-minute university lecture. It is about grandparents not being able to download photos of their grandchildren. I urge Canberrans to keep sending me your internet speeds, because these speeds are among the worst in the nation—the nation's worst in the nation's capital, thanks to this government.

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