Jennie George (Throsby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The government’s decision to build the new superfast National Broadband Network was well received by the community. On several occasions in this House I have raised the frustration of my local residents and businesses about their inability to access high-speed ADSL broadband services, even in recently opened new housing estates. Many of them felt they had been left on an IT goat track instead of being part of the information superhighway. Many constituents today in my electorate of Throsby still rely on dial-up services.

The NBN will be the single largest nation-building infrastructure project in Australian history, helping transform our economy and creating the jobs and businesses of the 21st century. It is our government’s intention that the new network will connect homes, schools and workplaces with optical fibre to the premises, providing broadband services to Australians in both urban and regional centres with speeds of 100 megabits per second—100 times faster than those currently used by most people. This will extend to towns with a population of around 1,000 or more people. It is our intention to use next-generation wireless and satellite technologies that will be able to deliver 12 megabits per second or more to people living in more remote parts of rural Australia. We want to provide fibre-optic transmission links that will connect cities, major regional centres and rural towns. It will be Australia’s first national wholesale-only, open-access broadband network. It is to be built and operated on a commercial basis by the NBN Company, which has been established at arm’s length from the government and will involve private sector investment in the project. We expect to see the rollout, simultaneously, in metropolitan, regional, regional and rural areas.

Unlike the situation today facing many in my electorate, this network will ensure that every person in business, no matter where they are located, will have access to affordable fast broadband at their fingertips. High-speed broadband will transform the way we communicate and do business. It will certainly improve our education and health service delivery, it will connect our cities and regional centres, it will stimulate jobs and drive innovation and productivity gains. The NBN Company was established to design, build and operate the infrastructure that will enable advanced digital services to be provided. It will create Australia’s first national wholesale-only, open-access, high-speed broadband platform. Earlier this month, Minister Conroy and the CEO of the NBN Company announced the first five sites to receive high-speed broadband on mainland Australia. Among the list of five are the coastal communities of Kiama Downs and Minnamurra which are located in my electorate of Throsby. The other sites that were announced were: a part of the suburb of Brunswick in Melbourne, an area in Townsville, an area west of Armidale and the rural town of Willunga in South Australia. The sites were selected because they represent the diverse situations the builders will encounter during the network rollout. They will provide an opportunity to test and document different design and construction techniques in a range of situations. I understand it is the intention of the NBN Company to consult with our local community about its plans during the design phase. Following this phase it is anticipated that actual construction work will be delivered in a staged rollout beginning in the second half of the year. Approximately 2,600 premises located in Minnamurra and Kiama Downs will be the first of the two nominated sites in New South Wales to receive high-speed broadband. I am sure the constituents of both Minnamurra and Kiama Downs will join with me in welcoming the government’s announcement.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! It being 10.00 pm, the debate is interrupted.