Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak today on the outstanding progress the Abbott coalition government is making in rolling out the National Broadband Network, particularly in my electorate of Barker. The NBN is a crucially important piece of infrastructure that connects rural communities to the world. Unfortunately, this crucial piece of infrastructure was botched by Labor when in office, and the Abbott coalition government is taking the necessary steps to ensure that regional and rural communities get the full benefit of this enormous investment.

Improved telecommunications through broadband will lead to more interconnectedness for families, for business and for other important social concerns like medicine and education. This technological revolution in internet capacity will mean that families who have to endure time apart will be able to see each other in real time. It will also mean that people can encourage the creativity in their children or enjoy more entertainment options if they choose.

Telemedicine will not only allow for specialist clinical services to be provided more regularly in regional communities but will also reduce the costs to both patients and taxpayers. Similarly, for education, the quality of education in regional areas will necessarily improve, because it will mean more regular contact, greater access to higher-quality resources and greater socialisation amongst students through technologies such as Skype.

The benefits for business are also substantial with our increasingly globalised economy meaning that farmers can see what is happening in export markets much quicker and can negotiate deals with customers around the world more easily and reliably. Part of this is about increasing the farmers' knowledge of the markets they want to export into but also enabling them to position their products and take advantage of opportunities as they occur rather than missing out because of unreliable connections.

In my electorate alone, we have already switched on 12 wireless towers and have another 15 under construction. These towers will connect literally thousands of people to high-speed broadband of up to 25 megabits per second.

Last week I was pleased to see that a number of my local communities and over 3,500 premises were connected to the NBN. In total, this means that right now there are 3,739 premises with fixed wireless services available and a little under 6,283 premises for which the build is underway. Active locations include: Allendale East, Coonalpyn, Culburra, Kybybolite, Lucindale, Moorak, Tintinara, Tarpeena, Worrolong, Yahl and the surrounding districts of Meningie, Narracoorte, Port MacDonnell and Tailem Bend. Builds are currently underway in Cadell, Glossop, Karoonda, Mypolonga, Cobdogla, Cooltong, Monash, Morgan, the Nene Valley and the surrounding districts of Berri, Loxton, Mannum, Angaston, Barmera and Waikerie.

It would be remiss of me if I did not mention Labor's disastrous stewardship of the NBN and the findings of the Scales review. The review found that:

NBN Co was not fit for purpose. It was a start-up company given a job that only a well-functioning, large, and established telecommunications company would have been able to undertake in the allotted timeframe. The governance arrangements that operated in the very early stages of NBN Co’s life had a long lasting and detrimental effect on its operations, and a profound effect on the roll out of Australia’s NBN.

Additionally, the audit found:

Clearly, Labor botched the NBN but, thankfully, this madness has now come to an end and we are now seeing the benefits of responsible management and the value of the NBN to regional communities.

Question agreed to.

Federation Chamber adjourned at 12:59