Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

How good is the failed NBN? Here we are again—a new parliament but the same old failures of this government and their deliberate butchering of the National Broadband Network.

I was contacted recently by the owner of a computer sales and repair business in my electorate. This business employs three local staff and relies on the internet connection as a bit of a component when working with computers. My constituent was pleased to be informed when they were advised that they could connect to the government's second-rate NBN. That should be a positive thing for an IT business, right? You'd think so. As expected, someone came out to hook it up. He was online for a total of two minutes before the connection was disrupted. The technician left in confusion, and my constituent and his business was left with no internet.

In the days following this 'excellent' service, this small business was left without a phone, internet or EFTPOS connection. This went on for some time until they found a temporary connection through the mobile phone network to use. This bare minimum patch-up was never going to be enough. Computer repair involves high-speed internet traffic due to heavy data usage and file transfers, so a mobile phone connection to replace the NBN is like putting a bandaid on a broken leg. When my constituent complained to NBN, he was told, 'Wait for your ISP.' The ISP said, 'No, we're waiting for the NBN'—back and forth, back and forth; buck passing and getting a gold medal in bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo. Meanwhile the minister sits on his hands, ignoring their pleas.

This small business is suffering unsustainable losses. Its income stream has been slashed by half and the owner has been forced to send staff home on full pay because of a lack of work. So much for the Morrison government's empty rhetoric about having a go and getting a go. You can imagine just how annoyed this small-business owner was when, eventually, another technician meandered out to have a look at the problem and it was discovered that the major cable that should go from his business's side of the street to the node 200 metres away had never, ever been installed.

The complete failure of the Morrison government to give Australians first-rate broadband is unbelievable. It is creating incredible anxiety for small-business owners. My constituent has been left in the dark, which is putting pressure on his health and creating stress. He is wondering how long his business can survive without the basic necessities of proper working internet. He said to me, 'This is like trying to run a Red Rooster without any chicken.' This is another example of what we're seeing on a massive scale with this deliberately failed and botched rollout of the Liberals' version of the NBN. Small-business owners are being financially hammered to breaking point by a government that knowingly misleads Australia when it says it cares about small business and has seriously mismanaged the very things that would help businesses thrive.

Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! I thank the member for McEwen for his contribution, and I call the member for Ryan.