Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

The NBN will open up a world of possibilities in the delivery of healthcare services. People will have the opportunity, particularly in regional and rural Australia, to receive the best specialist health care regardless of where they live. Doctors in rural and remote locations will be able to access the best training and the most up-to-date information. For in-home care it will enable patients to remain in their homes, improving their quality of life and freeing up hospital beds for the very ill. Importantly, internationally renowned software company iSOFT predicts the NBN could pay for itself twice over just from the e-health benefits.

But, as the Age pointed out earlier this week, a grasp of how the NBN might transform life, including health delivery, seems to have eluded Tony Abbott, who plans to shut down the NBN and has no alternative policy— (Time expired)