Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Conroy. Can the minister advise the Senate on countries other than Australia who are building fibre to the home?

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

I thank the senator for his question. The opposition spokesman, the member for Wentworth, has attacked Australian technology writers for being pro-NBN zealots. He has called on them to look overseas. Well, we have gone looking. And what have we found?

In New Zealand they dumped fibre to the node and are now building fibre to the home. Just two weeks ago, New Zealand's minister for communications on a visit to Australia was asked: 'Why did you dump fibre to the node for fibre to the home?' And this is what she had to say: 'Because FTTH is the most comprehensive and future-proof network that we could build.'

I have previously informed the Senate of France Telecom which is building fibre to the home to 15 million French homes by 2020. The opposition spokesman, the member for Wentworth knows France Telecom well, as he is an investor in what he described as a 'good-value share'.

So we turned to Spain. What is Spanish Telefonica doing? It is investing in fibre to the home. Telefonica commenced in 2011 what has been described as a 'very aggressive deployment project' to offer fibre to the home, including bringing 100-megabit services to 1.3 million premises in Madrid.

Mr Turnbull asked us to look overseas. We have, and what we see is fibre to the home in France, in Spain, in New Zealand. Mr Turnbull needs to commit to building fibre to the home for Australia's future.

Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Is the minister aware of any claims of a lack of investment in fibre to the home in other countries?

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

The member for Wentworth asserted in Paris last year that where investment decisions are made by the private sector, FTTH is being reconsidered in favour of improved technologies over copper. Yet as I have just described, the private sectors in Spain and France are investing in fibre to the home. So let's follow Mr Turnbull's money, not his mouth. Let's follow his money and see what it shows us. Did Mr Turnbull invest in Telecom New Zealand when they were building FTTN? No. Has Mr Turnbull invested in BT in fibre to the node? No. Did he invest in France and fibre to the home? Yes. And what do we discover today? Ole! The Register of Members' Interests reveals that Senor Turnbull has invested in Telefonica bonds that are helping to finance Spain's fibre to the home. (Time expired)

Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Can the minister inform the Senate of any possibilities for Australians to invest in the National Broadband Network?

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

The NBN is an investment by the Australian government in the future economic prosperity of our nation. It is being financed by the government as a piece of important national infrastructure that will also provide a return of seven per cent. The NBN is underway and will meet the target of fibre work for 758,000 premises to be commenced or completed by the end of this calendar year. In the future, NBN Co. will raise debt to complement the equity investments made by the Australian government. I do not know when NBN Co. will issue their bonds to finance the remainder of their build, but what I can promise is that we will hold a place open for Mr Turnbull so he can invest in fibre to the home in this country, like he has done in France and Spain. (Time expired)