Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I stand to support the iLoddon Mallee group calling for our region to be reinstated to the NBN rollout schedule. There is still no rollout schedule planned for big centres in my electorate like Bendigo after the Abbott government ripped up the former Labor government's rollout plan. This uncertainty from the current government has meant that NBN developments in the area have stalled. Local telcos have said that they have stopped investing in ADSL infrastructure believing that the NBN will be rolled out.

My office deals with weekly complaints from people in the community—communities in Bendigo, in Castlemaine—complaining that they cannot get decent access. This would not be a problem if the government had not come to power and ripped up the plan.

It is just not good enough that Central Victorians be left behind when it comes to telecommunications. They too deserve to be able to connect with the rest of the world. Shepparton is connecting. Geelong is connecting. Ballarat is connecting but Bendigo is not, because the current government ripped up the plan.

It is clear from the people that I talk to that they want the National Broadband Network. They want to be able to connect. So far some of our smaller towns have benefited from the NBN: townships like Heathcote, Malmsbury and Tarnagalla are connecting through the fixed-wireless network and they are raving about the difference that it has made. That is why I call on this government to restore Bendigo to the plan. (Time expired)

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