Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Since coming to government in 2013, Malcolm Turnbull and the Liberals have done just about everything they possibly can to destroy the NBN. They have taken a world-class fibre-to-the-home network and they have turned it into 'fraudband'. Literally, across the area I represent, tens of thousands of households are frustrated and caught in a time warp. There are at least 20,000 households in my area which have received Labor's first-class broadband. They have received the fibre. Their neighbours and their fellow citizens are sitting back and asking, 'Why couldn't we have that?' In those areas, house prices are now rising even further because people have access to first-class broadband. But across the rest of the area there are approximately 40,000 premises that are receiving 'fraudband' or receiving absolutely nothing. For example, there are something like 20,000 premises which are in line for receiving some combination of copper and the old HFC cables.

The problem is that the speeds and service that have been promised have not arrived and people have been left in limbo. Some people have no service whatsoever. Some people have services which drop out. This is particularly the case in the bayside suburbs in my electorate. The standard HFC network has been more degraded in the bayside suburbs and it has led to cost blowouts, wait times and very, very poor service. So it is quite clear that, in those areas that are receiving, in particular, the HFC, connectivity is very low and service is very poor. Large sections of the area are receiving the inferior service, but there are many households in places such as Chermside, Chermside West, Geebung, Kedron, Northgate, Nundah and Wavell Heights that are still waiting for a connection to the NBN. Roughly a third has Labor's first-class broadband. Roughly a third is caught in the time warp of copper and HFC. They may have a service, but it is not likely to be superior in the way that was promised and is likely to be inferior in many cases, compared with what they had before. In the remaining third, people have not received anything at all. This is a disaster.

When it comes to infrastructure, it is probably the biggest infrastructure failure in the history of the country. There are dramatic consequences for small businesses right across my electorate. People who are operating childcare centres, many other people who are operating accounting firms, and families with kids studying at schools and universities have all been sacrificed to Turnbull's 'fraudband'. (Time expired)