Peter Hendy (Eden-Monaro, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I often refer to a concept I call the 'country-city compact'—basically, the recognition that country Australia needs to have a fair share of attention and resources. It is about ensuring that country areas have the infrastructure required to contribute to the national economy and to have equality of opportunity, as their city counterparts do. The coalition has rightly nominated infrastructure spending as a key to productivity growth for the nation. It is a central plank in our economic strategy for building our nation in the 21st century.

We can see just such infrastructure and an example of the country receiving a fair share of attention and resources in the rollout of the National Broadband Network across the nation. It is not often that one is able to give precise figures when speaking about a nationwide infrastructure program such as the NBN. But I am able to provide the precise number of premises that were ready to be connected to the NBN on the day I was elected as the member for Eden-Monaro.

The precise number of premises that were NBN-ready in Eden-Monaro on that day was zero. Not one person in my electorate could have connected to the NBN. This is despite all the fantastical claims of the previous government over six long years. There is one thing country people know, and that is when they are being fed a line. The previous government fed the people of Eden-Monaro a line and the people did not buy it. In fact, they rejected the previous member, with one of the biggest swings against Labor in New South Wales.

The former Labor government dreamed of an NBN, but dreams are not deliverables. The people of Eden-Monaro cannot conduct and grow their businesses on dreams; the people of Eden-Monaro cannot educate their children on dreams; and the people of Eden-Monaro cannot connect with the world and achieve happy, productive lives on dreams.

The difference between the coalition and those opposite is that we do not just dream, we deliver. Last year we handed down a $50 billion infrastructure package, the single-largest infrastructure package in Australia's history. Eden-Monaro is the home of that great infrastructure project, the Snowy hydro scheme. Can I tell you that the coalition's infrastructure package, coupled with the contribution of the states and the private sector, will be the equivalent of eight Snowy hydro schemes? Of course, you can dream big, but you have to apply effort to those dreams to achieve outcomes. This is where those opposite fail. They have an ambition-capability mismatch. They promised the world when it came to the NBN and delivered nothing in six years.

Right now in Eden-Monaro a rollout of the NBN is occurring to the tune of $90 to $100 million. Unlike the failed policy of the last government to put all their eggs in the fibre basket alone, it is now a multiple-use technology system. It is a sensible mixture of fibre, fixed wireless and satellite.

Today, in Eden-Monaro, 2,905 residences are ready for fibre-to-the-premises connection. Across the country, it is over 450,000. Today, in Eden-Monaro, 2,086 premises will be covered by fixed wireless already under construction. Across the country, over 173,000 premises are already covered by fixed wireless. The rollout continues apace. In Eden-Monaro, a further 7,900 fibre to the premises are under construction right now. Nationally, there are a further 545,000 fibre to the premises under construction. Add to that a further 2,800 fibre to the premises in build-preparation in Eden-Monaro and 188,000 nationally.

The numbers are impressive, and more is to occur. Across the nation, this year we will see construction commence to cover 1.9 million residences and businesses using fibre to the premises, fibre to the node and fixed wireless. The infrastructure to support this rollout is also being delivered. The Wolumla satellite ground station in my electorate is one of 10 critical pieces of infrastructure built in remote and regional Australia for the Long Term Satellite Service. This impressive facility, at an estimated cost of some $25 million, is an important step towards completing the satellite service and bringing fast broadband to regional and remote communities across country Australia. This is what happens when you apply effort and convert dreams into outcomes.

A lot has already been done, but we do not sit on our laurels. The minister tells me that we should know all the construction schedules for the NBN by the end of next year. This is what we do in the coalition: we do not just dream big, we deliver big.