Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. Why is the National Broadband Network important for our future economy?

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Moreton for a very important question. The National Broadband Network is absolutely critical to building a stronger, more modern and more competitive economy. When we came to office broadband speed in this country lagged behind that of 26 other OECD countries. Our internet services at that stage were the fifth most expensive in the OECD. As the Prime Minister was saying before, whenever you go in regional Australia—whether you go to Mackay, to Launceston, to Townsville or to the vast electorate of Kennedy—regional Australians absolutely understand the importance of superfast broadband. They understand the importance of being connected to the national economy and in particular they understand the importance of being connected to the international economy. We are something like 17th out of 31 OECD countries when it comes to penetration, and that is felt particularly acutely in regional Australia.

So we do need to strengthen our technological infrastructure through a first-class broadband network as a way to strengthen and broaden our economy. We have extensive research that shows what a boost this will be to GDP. The Centre for International Economics found that it will increase GDP by 1.4 per cent after just five to six years. For business, this means dramatically lower telephone bills and enhanced services, such as high-definition videoconferencing. In all of these areas it certainly means lower business costs, and it means higher employment.

Building the National Broadband Network will create something like 25,000 jobs per year. We know that superfast broadband really drives productivity—something like 78 per cent of productivity gains in service businesses and 85 per cent in manufacturing businesses. These sorts of productivity gains can come from this type of information communication technology. And of course it can dramatically enhance workforce participation. We do need to keep up with our major trading partners. Japan and Korea, for example, are way ahead of Australia, and many others are catching up.

But of course, all of this is opposed by those opposite. They want to stay with horse-and-buggy communications. They do not want to join the modern era which is going to drive productivity in this economy. We want to build a modern economy, and those opposite simply want to tear it down. Of course, the member for Wentworth was given that job—to tear down this vital productivity-enhancing initiative which is so important to future prosperity in this country. So what we are going to see now is delaying tactics in this House for an initiative which will build our economy for the future, drive our productivity, drive our competitiveness and give us the prosperity that we all seek.