Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Ronaldson being a Victorian, I am not sure what role he sees fit to play in the Tasmanian election. The volume and theatrics of Senator Ronaldson’s contribution are no substitute for substance. People should take a bit of a cold shower. We are talking about the provision of a world-class, fast broadband system, which this country has lacked for so long. On this issue, the previous government, in their 11 long years, fiddled and mucked around and could not work out what to do. They had 10 different plans and could not get one of them implemented. They left this country far short of anything world-class or reliable that would underpin our economy, our education system, our future and our economic development.

In this very important debate, Senator Ronaldson flippantly linked the provision of that world-class system to the lack of doctors, roads and other things in Tasmania. I know state elections do funny things to people, but maybe we should leave that to the Tasmanians. Senator Ronaldson, I know you like to speak in here and put on a good show—I must say I normally enjoy it—but let’s come back down to earth. The debate about the broadband system is a debate we are very happy to have, but to try to link it in some way to the provision of state services is to draw an incredibly long bow. I will leave my comments there. In case anyone listening thought there was any veracity to the linkages that Senator Ronaldson made, I just wanted to make those comments to put that to bed.