Annette Ellis (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak on the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Communications Fund) Bill 2008. This bill is a small but highly significant step forward for telecommunications in this nation. The bill represents the first step in the Rudd government’s rollout of high-speed broadband to 98 per cent of the population. Of course, the first stage of the broadband rollout is to appropriate funding for that purpose. This bill will amend part 9C of the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999, removing the requirement for the balance of the Communications Fund to remain above $2 billion. This will enable government to access the $2 billion in the Communications Fund to part-fund the rollout of Labor’s national broadband plan.

Labor’s national broadband network will transform communications in this country. With applications in e-medicine, education, commerce and entertainment, Labor’s network will be a revolution for those people in our community who cannot access high-speed broadband, let alone at an affordable price. Labor made it very, very clear in the lead-up to the election campaign what its policies were in the area of broadband. It was a policy area of very stark contrast between our policies for the future and those of the coalition, who I believe had a backward view and were trying to play catch-up in this area. Labor’s national broadband plan will provide speeds of up to 12 megabits per second—40 times faster than is currently available to many households and businesses. The Rudd government understands that access to high-speed broadband is highly beneficial to business, to communities and to individuals. It is vital for the long-term productivity and prosperity of our nation. That is why we announced, prior to the election, that we would invest up to $4.7 billion to build a national broadband network. This major investment in infrastructure will provide the basis for ongoing economic growth for decades to come. As my colleague the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, the member for Grayndler, pointed out in his second reading speech, under the previous government’s snail pace, residents and business throughout Australia would be waiting 35 years to reach the same level of investment that Labor is now prepared to make. Given that the internet was not available those 35 years ago, imagine where we could be in 35 years time when you consider where we are starting now with Labor’s broadband network. The Communications Fund was established by the former government to fund, albeit very slowly, the telecommunications needs of residents and businesses in rural, remote and regional areas, and this is exactly the purpose for which we will use the $2 billion in the fund. But we will invest in infrastructure much, much faster than had been intended by those opposite. Australians are tired of waiting for high-speed internet access. They know that we are a broadband backwater, thanks to the inaction and the slow progress of the former government.

I know that here in my own electorate of Canberra there is a great need for improved broadband access—even in the national capital. I think that many people believe that difficulties in accessing broadband are predominantly a problem in rural and regional areas, but this is not so. I would like to share with the House some of the experiences from my electorate. Approximately 10 kilometres from Parliament House is the suburb of Chifley in the Woden Valley—and a lovely suburb it is too. I know of one apartment block in Chifley called The Hermitage, right on the main road, which cannot get access to broadband. There are 75 units in the complex. Telstra tells the residents that they are too far away from the exchange. My office has been contacted by one lady there who is semi-retired. She uses the internet to keep in touch with family and friends, as well as it making a major contribution to the professional society in which she is very active. My office has made representations to Telstra on her behalf, and for the possible benefit of all of the other residents in The Hermitage or elsewhere in that region, but unfortunately so far without success. She is forced to rely on dial-up internet or she has to pay thousands of dollars for a satellite dish to be installed on the roof of her apartment block. They are the suggestions. That is no small cost when you consider her apartment is on the ground floor. I would like the people opposite to explain to this lovely lady why she cannot access ADSL in the national capital, only 10 kilometres from this very building. After almost 12 years in government, I really think that the ball was dropped in relation to broadband and the extension of communications at a new-world level here in Australia.

I would like to share another experience from my electorate which highlights the economic and environmental benefits of Labor’s rollout of high-speed broadband. Some months ago my office was contacted by a gentleman who lives in the suburb of Bonython, a little bit further south than Chifley. It is about 20 kilometres south of Parliament House. He works in computer programming for a large multinational technology company. He cannot get ADSL at home, let alone anything faster such as ADSL2. The lack of high-speed broadband is directly limiting his productivity and that of the company he works for. This means that instead of working from home, which was his preferred option—which his employer was very happy for him to do—he has to commute to work each day. That means of course another car on the road, more cost and so on. I know that his case is not unique. I know that this is happening in other parts of the country—in many, many parts of the country—and we really do need to do something about it to move us forward into the digital age.

Prior to the election, I had the opportunity to visit the Canberra Hospital with the then Leader of the Opposition, the now Prime Minister. Amongst other things, we met senior medical staff who told us of the huge benefits high-speed broadband can deliver to patients of that hospital. For those who do not know, the local Canberra Hospital services a very large part of southern New South Wales. It is a regional centre, in many ways, for medicine. The introduction of e-medicine via high-speed broadband will have massive benefits to patients and hospital staff. Doctors will be able to conduct interviews with patients over the internet and it will allow the transmission of complex case documents and the results of medical testing and diagnosis procedures to be sent over the internet. This is only one area where we could stand to benefit from high-speed broadband here in my local community.

I can remember, at an earlier time in this place, an inquiry by a parliamentary committee into telemedicine. My recollection of that inquiry is that the faster the speed, the better the connection for broadband and IT connections generally, and the possibilities were almost limitless for diagnosis of a range of issues, transfer of X-rays and transfer of data. I know that in some parts of the country we were already able to do that and do it well, but we have not reached our potential. There is far more that we can do, but we must have very good, high-quality, high-speed data transmission to really reach the potential of what we can do in the area of e-medicine or telemedicine, as we called it then. That would also, of course, help us with some of our regional neighbours.

I hope that, through the examples I have given today, people begin to understand the breadth of the problems with the current telecommunications networks. They are simply not sufficient and we as a nation cannot afford to sit back and wait for industry to get around to making the required investments. Government really must take a lead in the debate in this country, and that is exactly what the Rudd Labor government said it would do and it is exactly what the Rudd Labor government is doing.

As I said at the outset, the bill represents a very significant first step in bringing the Australian community and economy into the digital age. The Australian public wants a high-speed broadband network and our economy needs it sooner rather than later. I am very proud to speak on this bill today, as it represents the first step in a quantum leap forward for all Australians. Can I conclude by referring to the large number of consultations I have been involved in, particularly over the last 12 months, around the region on this very question. You could not go anywhere without people saying: ‘One of the best things that the Rudd opposition is proposing is to do the broadband thing—to pick up this policy and run with it. Do everything in your power to offer as many people as possible good, high-quality, high-speed data connection.’ We are talking about individuals, families and small business particularly around the different parts of this region. I am very pleased to think that we are moving forward. We are determined to get this policy up and running, and I am very much looking forward to seeing the improvements that I know we can offer to the majority, 98 per cent, of Australians over the coming years in respect of broadband connection in Australia.

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