Mark Vaile (Lyne, National Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Mallee for his question. As he is a professional engineer, I recognise his understanding of the importance of modern infrastructure right across Australia, not just in the metropolitan parts of Australia or the provincial cities but in rural and regional areas as well. The government also recognised that last year when we took a policy decision that would ensure the funding of infrastructure into the future, particularly telecommunications infrastructure that is needed greatly in the modern context. That high-speed broadband access is just as important as more traditional infrastructure in Australia such as roads and rail links across regional Australia.

Last year we announced a package of about $1.1 billion called Connect Australia, which was going to add to the mobile phone network across Australia but, importantly, provide an opportunity for providers to bid for grants to roll out large-scale infrastructure projects to enhance the access to broadband across Australia. In this day and age, where almost any business and any individual needs access to the internet—and, increasingly, businesses need access to high-speed broadband—we recognise that need. That is the $1.1 billion package. The minister for communications has announced that roll-out.

The $600 million broadband infrastructure fund that is currently being bid for is also out there. We encourage all operators—this is not just for any individual provider or technology; it is technology neutral and, if you like, provider neutral—because we want to get the best out of it and we want to leverage private sector investment in infrastructure across regional Australia as well.

Beyond that, the government put in place the $2 billion perpetual communications fund, which is going to provide a flow of capital that can be deployed to ensure that regional Australians get access to modern technology as it becomes available—

See this speech in context