Helen Coonan (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts) Share this | Hansard source

I know that this does not fit with the Labor Party’s script, but nevertheless they are verifiable figures and it is very important that the Labor Party stops misleading people about international rankings. The rapid growth in broadband adoption as a result of the ongoing reform of the telecommunications market, because it would not be possible unless there was broadband, was cited in 2005 as a key factor in Australia’s improved performance. These are verifiable figures.

The OECD figures are pretty old by now. The data that went into the OECD broadband league were taken in 2004-05. The thing that the Labor Party cannot get its head around is that Australia is above the OECD average. The fact is that Germany is 18th, France is 16th, the UK is 10th and the richest country in the world, which could presumably roll fibre from one end to the other three or four times, is actually ranked 12th.

The OECD comparison only considered speeds available from the major telco in each country. In this case it was Telstra, so it was not industry wide; and it certainly did not reflect the state of the industry. At the time of the report, Telstra’s maximum ADSL broadband speed was just 1.5 megabits per second, and the OECD ranked Australia only on that fact. It certainly does not reflect the current position. It does not take into account Telstra’s decision on 10 November 2006 to remove restrictions on its speeds, which overnight meant that 91 per cent of the population could get up to eight megabits and 50 per cent of the population could get well and truly over eight megabits, more like 12 to 20, which makes Labor’s aim obsolete before it even starts. It also does not recognise, as I have said, that nearly 50 per cent of the population can access higher speeds, up to 20 megabits, from ADSL2+ and pay-TV cable networks that pass almost three million households.

The Labor Party can selectively pull out OECD figures that are not up to date, are not accurate and certainly do not reflect the position in this country. They will try and do that, but it is important that the true facts are recorded, which I have now placed on the record.