Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader for Small Business) Share this | Hansard source

Like all members, I like to talk about small business because it is an important part of our community. I do so from the perspective of the practical things we can do for small business. While it is a pleasure to see this motion in the House, I would humbly suggest to members of the government that, rather than waste their time mentioning the things we already know—about small business being the engine room of the economy—since they are in government maybe they could do something for small business. Doing rather than talking would be a good idea but, since they are members of the government and they have been in government for almost 1½ years they will have a deep understanding that, yes, small business does need good telecommunications; they need a good connection to the NBN—that is what they are asking you for. I remind government members where the NBN came from. It came from where other big ideas came from—it is from the community, from business or from Labor. You are not going to see it from the Liberals.

We have lots of evidence of this. In the last 18 months the Liberal government has been tearing down ideas, tearing down everything it can. It wants to cut and slash and do anything except put in new programs and new ideas. It wants to get rid of dozens and dozens of small business organisations, small business assistance schemes, employment schemes and innovation schemes, including bodies that helped small business to innovate and employ. Instead, it just wants to cut and slash. Any member of the House, regardless of their background, ought to agree that small business needs decent telecommunications connections—and fast ones, at that. I hear members crowing about the connections to the NBN they have had in their electorate in recent months or a year ago, and I say isn't it wonderful that the programs that Labor put in place are starting to deliver the fruits for small business. It was Labor that put in place those programs and contracts and set up NBN Co and had a big idea, with the community, that we cannot just live off the old copper network forever. It is a great network that has served us for more than 100 years, but it will not service anyone in 100 years time. That is what the Liberal Party has forgotten.

When Malcolm Turnbull became communications minister his view was that he could not just completely shut down the concept of NBN, so we would have an 'NBN light'. Rather than taking fibre all the way to the home, all the way to the premises, it is just going to be to the node and then we will let everyone fend for themselves. We know that that is not going to work. That is just too difficult and it is not going to deliver the sort of broadband that people want. The fact is now, though, that we just do not get a choice. In the western corridor of Brisbane, through my electorate, one of the fastest growing corridors in Australia, we cannot even get an ADSL connection. You are left with two choices—you are left with satellite or with wireless broadband. These are not good enough for somebody at home let alone for small business. The fact is there are more and more small businesses people who work from home, who self-employ. We should never diminish self-employment as being employment. The other side often talk about small business but they forget that small business is more than companies; they forget that small business is more than those who employ more than 20 people. Sometimes a small business is just somebody employing themselves. I think all the evidence has finally come in, and it is stark—when it comes to the big ideas, it is Labor that puts them forward. With the National Disability Insurance Scheme, we knew that in 20, 30 or 40 years time the current system would break—it cannot survive. We put the NDIS in because we knew we had to do something big. We put the NBN in because we knew that in 20 or 30 or 40 years time—although the current telecommunications system is broken now and needs to be fixed—something would need to happen. Again, we need big ideas about the future, not just cut, cut, cut.

Unfortunately the Liberal Party is in this two-tiered mode—they are trying to implement a two-tiered health system; something for those with a lot of money and something much less for those with less money. They are trying to bring a two-tiered system into education—something for those with lots of cash who can afford $100,000 degrees but the others will have to fight over the small crumbs that are left. We see it in telecommunications—a two-tiered system where there would be one really good telecommunications system, a very fast system for those who can afford it and can afford to pay for that final mile, that final connection to the home or to the business, and then there will be those who will be left with whatever is available for them. The evidence is clear: Labor have the big ideas, and we have put them in place; the Liberal Party get into government and they destroy them and they attack small business on the way.

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