George Campbell (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is very obvious that the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, in her responses to questions today, has not bothered to read today’s newspaper clippings or today’s newspapers, or she would have understood the broad positive response there has been to Labor’s initiative announced yesterday on broadbanding the nation.

Let me disabuse Senator Adams: it is not a vague promise; it is a bold plan for the future. We all know, or we should know, that the mining boom is not going to last forever. They never do. Booms come in and they go off. We need to put in place a plan now to secure the growth of this country into the future, irrespective of what happens with our commodities and our commodity sector. That is what Labor has done by taking the decision yesterday. We are looking ahead to the future.

The government have raised the issue that this is raiding the Future Fund—that it is a smash and grab raid. Well, what better way to use a future fund than to secure the future for our children? That is what Labor is about in putting this plan in place. It is estimated that the new network will deliver national economic benefits, including, for example, up to $30 billion in additional national economic activity a year, making Australian small businesses more competitive, creating new international and domestic markets for businesses, new jobs for Australians and greater media diversity.

A state-wide broadband network in New South Wales, for example, will boost the state’s economy by $1.4 billion a year, increase employment by 3,400 jobs after 10 years, and raise exports by $400 million over its first decade. This is going to deliver for Australia, not just New South Wales. Every state and every person in this country is going to benefit from Labor’s decision yesterday to look to the future and put in place a broadband fibre-to-the-node network that will be integral to our economic prosperity over the next 20 to 30 years. This network is a critical part of the base of our new economy. In the 19th century there were big nation-building activities like building railways. In the 21st century the biggest nation-building activity will be putting in place the broadband structure.

In reality, what have we seen this week? We have seen the sharp contrast between an ageing Prime Minister, who is talking about failed policies of the past, and Kevin Rudd, who is talking about bold policies for the future. That is the contrast we have seen this week between the leadership of the two major parties in this parliament. The contrast could not have been starker than it was yesterday in the debate over the broadband issue. The government is fighting old and unpopular battles while the Labor Party is looking forward to building a future for our kids.

We know that the knowledge economy is driven by access to information and that information is critical to our success in the future. We need fast, reliable access to the internet, which will be the driver of future growth in our economy. Investment in the future of broadbanding is essential. Last year, more than 100,000 people in this country applied for broadband but were turned down because of Australia’s second-class telecommunications infrastructure. The metropolitan broadband black spots program has been an abject failure.

What this government had done in this area is simply not good enough. That is why the Labor Party will invest $4.7 billion on the national broadband plan. This money will be an investment in the future prosperity of the nation. The plan will deliver access to broadband at a minimum speed of 12 megabits per second, a framework for a competitive new generation telecommunications infrastructure rollout and a foundation for future broadband infrastructure upgrades. This is responsible investment in the future. No-one can argue that this is a silly policy proposal. (Time expired)