Natasha Griggs (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was delighted earlier this week to receive an update on the rollout of the National Broadband Network from both the Minister for Communications and the Department of Communications. Prior to the 2013 federal election, many of my constituents were pretty confused about Labor's plans for the NBN, and I am sure that occurred in your electorate as well, Madam Deputy Speaker. In Darwin and Palmerston we heard all sorts of talk from the then Labor government. Labor campaigned about the $5,000 connection fees that were going to occur if the coalition won. They were saying that Australia was going to be cast back to the Stone Age of obsolete technology.

People were receiving letters promising them imminent connections. We were told that works were underway in the neighbourhoods, when in fact all that had happened were some designs. There was not a cable being laid or a sod being turned; just some sketches in some faraway office. Madam Deputy Speaker, I am sure you would agree that that is typical Labor style—lots of media and no substance. It was a pretty slow process to download anything if you were not plugged in. This was the reality of Labor's NBN: lots of promises, lots of hype and no delivery.

This brings me back to the figures I received this week from the Department of Communications. I am delighted to report to the chamber that under the stewardship of the Minister for Communications the NBN has gone from an abstract vision of the future to reality in my electorate. There are now 5,190 premises already connected. There are 5,190 families and businesses already on the grid. Homes are benefiting from the best the world has to offer in education, e-commerce and entertainment. There are another 20,568 premises ready for service. Those people can tap into the NBN at any time they choose.

This is a government that gets things done. Let us compare the two. Under Labor's NBN in Solomon there were threats of $5,000 connection fees if the coalition won, a handful of connections, lots of empty promises and a truckload of fearmongering. Under the coalition government we have delivered tens of thousands of premises ready for service. More than 5,000 are already connected. The NBN is a great example of the difference between the coalition and the Labor Party.

The coalition gets things done. Ask anyone of the thousands of NBN-ready homes and businesses across Alawa, Anula, Casuarina, Darwin CBD, Fannie Bay, Karama, Larrakeyah, Leanyer, Lyons, Malak, Marrara, Moil, Parap, Stuart Park, the Gardens, Tiwi, Wagaman, Wanguri and Wulagi. Just ask them which approach they would prefer. Would they prefer Labor's empty promises and threats, or would they prefer the coalition actually delivering on what it said?

Ask the students, families and business owners across the areas that are being plugged in right now, those in Alawa, Bayview, Brinkin, Casuarina, Driver, Durack, East Arm, East Point, Fannie Bay, Farrar, Gray, Gunn, Jingili, Ludmilla, Marlow Lagoon, Millner, Mitchell, Moulden, Nakara, Nightcliff, Palmerston City, Parap, Rapid Creek, Rosebery, the Narrows, Woodroffe, Woolner and Yarrawonga. Ask them if they would prefer Labor's NBN—a sketch on the design table and a $94 billion broken connection promise—or the coalition's NBN with an actual connection. It is a well managed program delivered sooner and more efficiently.

In the 18 months since the coalition has been in government, the reach of the NBN network has more than doubled. Other technology mixes now being used via our fixed wireless means we can get the networks sooner to areas with lower population densities. The hybrid fibre coaxial has also been announced. I will leave the technicalities to the minister, but I do understand the connections on this technology will be several hundred times faster than the ADSL connections that most Australians use.

When the coalition came to office, Labor had connected just under 50,000 premises to the NBN. There are now 296,000 already tapped in and nearly 700,000 premises passed. The facts speak for themselves.