Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to further outline the very strong case for an area in my electorate to be included in the priority rollout schedule of the National Broadband Network. The suburb of Thornton is located on the western outskirts of Newcastle, about 25 kilometres by road from the city centre and about 10 kilometres from the nearby hub of Maitland. Yet Thornton has some of the poorest quality and poorest access to broadband services in Australia.

Thornton is a mix of about 2,500 old and new residences, built from the early 1900s through to pockets of new housing built in recent years. I might add that it is still growing. Thornton and the immediate suburbs are part of a boom growth corridor between Maitland and Raymond Terrace. It is a popular area for young couples and families to settle and build their lives, and for long-term residents to enjoy retirement in the houses they have lived in and enjoyed for decades.

Despite the close proximity to the second largest city in New South Wales and the major arterial roads of Australia's eastern seaboard, Thornton is a suburb that sits in digital isolation. According to the Department of Communication's broadband availability and quality report, published in December 2013, large parts of Thornton have the poorest access in the country to broadband, and the broadband that is available is of the poorest quality, delivering some of the slowest speeds in Australia. According to the My Broadband checker online tool, a tool that most Thornton residents cannot in fact make use of, Thornton's current broadband situation is rated DED, dead. According to the ranking scale, where an A is best and an E is the worst, Thornton scores a D rating for the availability of broadband, and E rating for the quality of fixed broadband available, and D for the current ADSL quality.

When it comes to wireless broadband the situation is little better. Close proximity to busy freeways and road stops at Hexham and Heatherbrae mean that the local wireless network is often clogged with travellers checking in on their journey north, leaving the residents with a slow unreliable and very expensive service.

I have been working with Thornton residents on this issue for more than two years now. The shocking lack of access to broadband and ADSL connections was first raised with me whilst doorknocking in Thornton during my campaign. Since I was elected, in 2013, residents have been in regular contact with me about their broadband and internet malaise. It is rare that a week goes by without a member of the Thornton community calling my office or writing to me to tell me about the issues they are having with connecting to the internet. I have made regular representations on their behalf to the Minister for Communications detailing their frustration and, at times, anger about not being able to connect to the internet. To date the responses from the minister have been generally hollow, with no real answers for the community, no timeline for connection to the NBN and no solution for their current ADSL and wireless issues.

Frustrated at the lack of detail and action for the Thornton community, I put question in writing to the minister, but again received no real answers, and most definitely no action. Late last year I wrote to all residents in Thornton asking them to tell me a bit more about their broadband experience. The response from the 177 residents who completed the Thornton broadband survey was overwhelming. No matter what individual requirements residents have, the current broadband service does not meet the needs of the community today, let alone the needs of the future.

Nearly three-quarters of respondents to the survey cannot get access to ADSL broadband at their home. They have tried to get access but they have received a number of different reasons for why they cannot gain access. For some, the stark reality is that without a new phone exchange being built—which would be a very expensive option to connect residents to the old technology of last century—Thornton residents will never receive access to ADSL broadband. NBN is their only hope.

A lot of people are being forced into using the only service available to them, and that is the very expensive and sometimes unreliable wireless broadband. Depending on the agreement they have with their service provider, users may have to pay up to triple the price for a quarter of the data that is available under ADSL or NBN. Not surprisingly, nearly all respondents to the survey—99 per cent in fact—reported that they need to use the internet every day, with the most common reasons for internet usage being firstly, social connection with family and friends; secondly, shopping for groceries and other items online; thirdly, to do schoolwork or university assignments; fourthly, to work from home or to operate a small business; and, finally, to do online banking and paying of bills.

The survey also allowed respondents to make open comment about their experience of broadband in Thornton. The comments demonstrated an overwhelming sense of frustration regarding both the access and quality of broadband in Thornton. For the benefit of the House, I would like to share a few of the comments that were sent to me. One resident said, 'We purchased our home in August 2014, but didn't realise we would have no access to internet.' Another asked, 'Third World countries get fast broadband; why not Thornton?' On the cost of the only option available to many, another said, 'Currently using four different wireless accounts. Total cost per month: $310. Total gigabytes per month: 32.'

One of the lucky few who has some ADSL access said, on the speed of the service he receives, 'The maximum speed I have ever got is about 300 kilobytes per second.' Frankly—as one resident put it—'Expensive, unreliable mobile broadband has resulted in countless hours of frustration.'

Their voices were clear—their current level of service is completely unacceptable in 2015. The shadow minister for communications is very aware of the issues and frustrations that Thornton residents are having, and has visited the area three times in the last 12 months—most recently last week. He has shared their frustration on the national stage to highlight the gross inadequacy of internet services in areas like Thornton, doing so at the NBN: Rebooted conference in Sydney last year.

While it has been told in the House before, the story he shared is worth telling again. It is actually one that was shared with me when doorknocking in 2013. It is the story of an aged care nurse who lives in Thornton. She lives quite a long way from where she works and she has to check her shift rosters online to see when she is next required to work. That is where things get interesting. Rather than check on a smart phone, tablet or laptop in the comfort and privacy of her own living room, as you or I might do, this nurse has to get on a ladder and climb onto her roof to get an adequate mobile broadband reception to download a simple, text-based shift roster.

Unfortunately, the nurse's story is not unique. Last week, the shadow minister joined me in Thornton for a community forum to discuss the current state of broadband in Thornton and what the future held. There was standing room only at St Michael's church hall, with more than 100 residents squeezed in to get an update of the situation on broadband in Thornton. The residents are understandably anxious, sharing their individual frustrations with the shadow minister and me.

There was the story of a mother who gets up at 5 am every day, heading into Newcastle city to work. She works a full day then stays back for a few hours to do her online study on her employer's network, because she is worried about using up the expensive wireless data quota at home that her daughter needs for her own study. Returning home at about 7 pm she has a few hours with the family and then goes through the same routine again the next day. And so it goes on, day after day.

We also heard the story of a young nurse who is studying for her master's degree in intensive paediatric care. She cannot access the internet at home and has to find a way to juggle her study, work and personal life. She is often forced to stay at work on campus until the early hours of the morning to complete her study. This is a woman we entrust to care for 26-week-old premature babies. She is trying to improve her skills, but we cannot give her access to the internet. I gave an assurance to the Thornton community last week that I would not rest until they had access to a level of broadband that they need, want and deserve. I again put the Minister for Communications on notice about the dire needs of Thornton residents and call on him to ensure that Thornton is added to the next round of the NBN rollout plan as a matter of urgency.(Time expired)