Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Telecommunications technology is vital to modern society. It enables us to conduct business, access emergency assistance and keep in touch with family and friends. Imagine how hard life would be if you did not have a phone. For too many residents in Canning, this is a reality. Recently I visited a group of homeowners in Falcon, in the south of my electorate, who for the last 10 years have struggled to get a mobile or landline service. Falcon is a suburb of the city of Mandurah, WA's second-largest city and at the heart of my seat of Canning. When it rains, these residents cannot use their home phones. Even on a good day, they barely get a mobile phone signal.

On a recent visit a few weeks ago I went between SOS and a single bar of mobile phone service sitting at their kitchen table. Their situation is unacceptable. They cannot talk to family, they cannot conduct their business and, ironically, sometimes they cannot even call their service provider for help. This has gone on too long, and I look forward to sitting down with Telstra, NBN Co and the residents soon to resolve this issue. But there are countless other constituents living with unreliable phone service all over Canning—from Serpentine, Jarrandale and Roleystone in the north, to Boddington, Lake Clifton and Yunderup in the south.

Recognising the importance of reliable communication networks, the coalition government has been working hard to improve mobile phone services through the Mobile Blackspot Program. This government has committed over $220 million to the program, enabling improvements to more than 750 mobile black spots across Australia. In my electorate of Canning we are grateful to have received funding for four recognised mobile black spots: Dwellingup south, Waroona north, Lake Clifton and Serpentine-Keysbrook. Residents in each of these areas will benefit greatly from these projects and I look forward to their completion.

The government is also committed to improving online communication for Australians through the National Broadband Network. I receive daily complaints from families and small business owners in Canning who cannot get decent internet. Generally speaking, this is because the existing infrastructure has not kept pace with population growth. We had about 40,000 people added to Canning in the last 10 years, for example. I think of people like Mark Hudson, a Byford business owner who cannot connect with overseas customers on skype. I think of a mother in Roleystone who contacted me recently who decided on a tree change for her home beauty business but cannot access her client emails. And I think of a fellow from Lake Clifton whom I met at Mandurah train station who moved his business out of Canning because he could not compete on the state and international markets because of the internet service.

I am pleased to advise my constituents that the NBN will solve these issues. Australians with access to ADSL currently experience download speeds of seven to eight megabits per second. Across all NBN technologies, peak download data rates will be 25 megabits per second to all premises, and at least 50 megabits per second for 90 per cent of fixed-line premises. That is a significant increase in speed. Already, Canning constituents are reaping the benefits of the NBN. In Waroona, Pinjarra and the greater areas of Herron and Mandurah there are more than 23,000 premises connected to the NBN.    Parts are switching on for residents in Bedfordale, Brookdale, Byford, Mt Richon and Darling Downs. Construction is underway on towers around the Mundijong area. Residents in Cardup, Jarrandale, Mundijong, Serpentine, North Yunderup and South Yunderup who are serviced by fixed wireless will be able to connect next year. I am very personally grateful, because, as of a couple of weeks ago, I can now connect to the NBN in Halls Head.

But, like any major reforms, a project of this magnitude is not without its growing pains. With the help of NBN Co I have successfully resolved a number of constituent complaints. I think of John Macauley, owner of Kitchen Warehouse, Australia's largest online kitchenware retailer. The CFO and other board members operate out of John's property in West Coolup but could not get internet access due to NBN boundary issues. That has been resolved and he can now connect to the NBN to carry out his business.

There is huge potential in regional Australia. The regions have been home to business success stories in the past and will be in the future. For all this to happen we need to get communications right. We need to ensure phone and internet services enable families to remain connected and enable Australian businesses to be competitive in local, state and global markets.    This government has made great achievements in the rollout of the NBN and Mobile Black Spot Program, but there is more work yet to be done. As long as I am the member for Canning, I will advocate very strongly for my constituents to ensure that they have the very best telecommunications and internet services in their electorate.