Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

She is definitely consistent, Senator Campbell—she is consistently confused, there is no doubt about that. Look at the ministerial misbehaviours on the other side. I do not know what negatives Senator Conroy has, but I tell you, I wish I had them in my pocket. It is absolutely amazing that that minister can stand up and dribble on week after week and not answer one question. She talks for five minutes every time and says absolutely nothing. She is that confusing that even her side are embarrassed about it; you can see their heads buried in their laps.

I must give, once again, congratulations to Mr Rudd. Honestly, what is happening here is nation building. Let us not make any mistake about that. Those on the other side go on about how wonderful it is that 90 per cent of Australians have access to fast dial-up broadband. What an absolute load of rubbish! I invite Minister Coonan to come over to Western Australia—not on a jaunt where you have set meetings with cabinet but out to the seats in Perth, around Hasluck, up on the Darling Ranges—an area which Senator Adams knows very well. You only have to travel just over 20 minutes out of the Perth CBD and you cannot get access to broadband! Under our plan—Mr Rudd’s plan and Senator Conroy’s plan—98 per cent of Australians will have access to a national high-speed broadband network.

I would like to make another comment while I have the time. It brings me to an article today by Mr Sid Marris, a respected journalist with the Australian. The commentary in the media has been very positive. Mr Marris is no fool; he really can see what is going on. I want to quote some of his words. Mr Marris said:

Making broadband internet services as ubiquitous as the telephone could add up to $30 billion to the economy and deliver a rise in productivity by improving efficiency and creating new products and markets.

There is universal agreement that improving the speed and size of internet connections will be one of the key developments to turning around Australia’s sluggish productivity growth.

So, to Senator McGauran and those on the other side, I say: you have been asleep at the wheel. You are squandering Australia’s fortunes. There is no productivity growth where you come from. It is all very well to read the polls and make a snap decision about how you are going to throw a few million dollars here and there. Think about the future. That is what this is all about. Mr Rudd and Senator Conroy should be congratulated.