Geoff Lyons (Bass, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise in the House today to welcome news that homes and businesses in Launceston will be able to reap the benefits of the NBN, with construction now underway. The NBN maps show that fibre is being rolled out to approximately 2,600 households in Launceston. This will allow residents access to faster, affordable and more reliable broadband. Under Labor, connection to the NBN is free. Everyone should have the right to access fast, affordable broadband—and that is what is happening and being delivered to the residents of Launceston. As the member for Bass, the only complaints I get about the NBN is that people cannot get connected fast enough. I have had constituents move from Western Australia to Scottsdale in North-East Tasmania, simply to get access to the National Broadband Network and improve their lifestyle.

Only a Labor government will deliver high-speed, affordable broadband to all Australians. This is in stark contrast to the opposition's 'fraud-band' plan, which will see a significantly slower, copper-to-the-home internet connection, costing families and small businesses up to $5,000 to connect. This plan will leave Australia with the broadband equivalent of the Sydney Harbour Bridge with only one lane, and I believe that Australians deserve better than this. That is why I am so pleased that Northern Tasmania is one of the first regions to reap the benefits of Labor's NBN: fast, affordable, and reliable broadband, delivered to every home and business in Australia.