Katy Gallagher ACT, Australian Labor Party
2:38 pm
My question is to the Minister for Communications and the Arts, Senator Fifield. In 2013, Prime Minister Turnbull promised every small business would have access to minimum download speeds of 25 megabits per second by the end of 2016. The latest Akamai State of the internet report revealed that peak average speeds are just 11 megabits per second, slower than speeds in Thailand, Kenya and Bulgaria. How are Australian small businesses supposed to compete globally when they are enduring some of the poorest speeds in the developed world?
Mitch Fifield Victoria, Liberal Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate
2:39 pm
I thank Senator Gallagher for the question. It is important to recognise with surveys such as the Akamai speed survey that whilst the NBN is available to 50 per cent of the nation, a majority of the nation are still on the pre-NBN network. So the Akamai survey, as a matter of logic and facts, primarily measures the pre-NBN network. What that means is the Akamai survey is really helping to make the case for our approach to see the NBN rolled out six to eight years sooner than would have been the case under those opposite, and at $30 billion less cost.
Deborah O'Neill NSW, Australian Labor Party
That is a gross misrepresentation!
Mitch Fifield Victoria, Liberal Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate
So, of those sampled in the Akamai survey, a minority would be on the NBN.
It is also important to recognise the Akamai survey doesn't measure the technical speed capacities of lines. What it measures are the speeds that people have actually chosen to obtain. I think a number of colleagues would know something in the order of 83 per cent of people who are on the NBN have opted for speed packages of 25 megabits per second or less. Akamai doesn't measure what the particular line is capable of; it measures the package that people have actually chosen to adopt. So to present the Akamai survey as has been done by the other side and to characterise it the way it has been characterised is not an accurate reflection of the capacity of the NBN. As I say, it primarily and overwhelmingly covers the pre-NBN network.
Katy Gallagher ACT, Australian Labor Party
2:41 pm
That's a relief. In a Herald Sun article entitled 'Australian households, businesses on NBN slam "unreliable" connection', Ms Linda Jukic, a pharmacy manager in South Hurstville, said she had to delay the installation of an EFTPOS because the NBN was so unreliable. Will the minister explain to Ms Jukic why the Prime Minister has failed to deliver on his promise?
Mitch Fifield Victoria, Liberal Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate
2:42 pm
Senator Gallagher referred to pre-2013 statements in relation to the time frame in which it was hoped the NBN could be completed. When we came into office we initiated a strategic review which determined the NBN was actually in a much worse condition as an organisation than we had thought.
Mitch Fifield Victoria, Liberal Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate
Since the strategic review was issued, the government has said the NBN will be completed by 2020. That is six to eight years sooner than would have been the case under those opposite. So anyone who is waiting for the NBN would have been waiting for longer if those opposite had been in office. The senator cites a particular example. I never want to diminish an experience that someone has had that isn't all that it should be.
Stephen Parry President
Senator Gallagher, a final supplementary question?
Katy Gallagher ACT, Australian Labor Party
2:43 pm
Will the minister give an unequivocal guarantee that every Australian small business on the copper NBN will have access to minimum speeds of 25 megabits per second by 2020?
Mitch Fifield Victoria, Liberal Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate
NBN Co. is on track to deliver the NBN by 2020 to the whole nation. The mandate to NBN is that 25 megabits per second is the basic speed that people can be entitled to. It is important to recognise, however, that people can—
Mitch Fifield Victoria, Liberal Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate
Mr President, this constant—I don't know what word I'll use to describe it—
Penny Wong SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate
On direct relevance. Could the minister answer the question, please.
Mitch Fifield Victoria, Liberal Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate
I was. Tell your colleagues to pipe down a little bit!
Stephen Parry President
Order! The minister has been relevant to the question. I will ask the minister to continue.
Mitch Fifield Victoria, Liberal Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate
As I was saying, the NBN is on track to be completed by 2020. The whole network will have a 25-megabit-per-second capacity but, obviously, there will be some people who opt for speed packages lower than that and some people who will opt for speed packages that are higher than that.