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

I thank Senator Stephens for her longstanding interest in this issue. I know that she is particularly passion­ate about telecommunications services in rural and regional New South Wales. The Gillard government has pledged that no community in Australia will be left behind in the rollout of affordable, modern, high-speed broadband. Sadly, some of those opposite, particularly down in the far corner, claim to represent the interests of country and regional Australia but, in truth, they simply pay lip service to the view, continually opposing the Gillard government as we roll out uniform wholesale pricing and ubiquit­ous high-speed broadband to 100 per cent of Australian premises—a project that will have a particularly dramatic impact on regional Australia.

Senator Joyce interjecting—