Terri Butler (Griffith, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

There are over 14,000 small businesses in my electorate of Griffith. They do drive employment, enterprise and innovation and they play a vital role in creating and building strong local communities. As this motion states:

… all Australians, including small business people, should have access to fast, affordable and reliable broadband …

By the time today's year 7 students finish high school, their household's internet needs will have increased sixfold. Australians need access to fast, affordable and reliable broadband to meet our needs now and into the future, and if businesses are to take full advantage of the productivity gains and the innovation opportunities available to them this century they need access to a world-class broadband network.

Those opposite sure have some gall to come in here and claim that this government and this minister, the aspiring Prime Minister, have a plan to deliver fast and reliable broadband to the small and medium enterprises of Australia. Rather than a world-class National Broadband Network, this government and this minister have delivered only broken promises and are advocating for a second-rate series of networks of different capabilities, different speeds and different technologies. Now the government wants to create a two-tiered broadband network where the rich can afford super-fast fibre broadband, while people of ordinary means will be stuck with the old copper network.

Our neighbours in Japan, South Korea and Singapore are all investing in fibre to the premises. At the same time, Australia will be relying on an old, outdated copper network, which will very likely be obsolete by the time it is completed. We are putting our businesses and our economy at a disadvantage. There are many communities that, despite the promises of those opposite, cannot even get access to this government's second-rate broadband solution. The minister promised:

Suburbs, regions, towns and business districts with the poorest services and greatest need for upgrades will receive first priority.

That promise has turned out to be pretty hollow for the residents and businesses of Mount Gravatt East in my electorate of Griffith, like the business that Christian McCarty runs. Christian is a digital media professional who runs a small business on the south side. His work in feature films has won critical acclaim overseas, and he needs a reliable internet connection to run his business and compete for work against other firms from around the world. The best internet speed that Christian can get in Mount Gravatt East is 1.6 megabits per second. For a business that is just 12 kilometres from the CBD, that is unacceptable. If we are going to grow our economy, we need to support innovative small and medium-sized enterprises such as Christian's. If we do not have the infrastructure of the 21st century, businesses will not be able to access the opportunities of the 21st century; they will lose those opportunities to other countries, and we will lose those businesses to other countries.

Despite the appalling internet speed that Christian gets, Mount Gravatt East is not even in Mr Turnbull's latest 18-month rollout plan. I wrote to the minister on Christian's behalf, and his response was, 'It's Telstra's problem, but don't worry; we'll get to you by 2020.' Now we are finding out that there will be this $10,000 fee that businesses like Christian's will have to pay for the privilege. In fact, not one suburb in Griffith features in the ministers 18-month rollout plan—not one.

Under Labor's NBN, construction of fibre to the premises would have commenced or have been completed for approximately 77,300 homes, businesses, medical facilities and schools in and around Brisbane's south side by 30 June 2016. This government will disconnect Australia from a high-speed broadband future. It will take us back to the 100-year-old copper wire past and strangle the future growth of Australia's economy.

We all know that productivity is important for future economic growth. Labour productivity has been rising very well, and that was noted in the Reserve Bank governor's recent speech, but multifactorial productivity needs to increase, and world-class broadband will assist us with that.

I call on the minister to update his rollout plan so that the residents and businesses in Mount Gravatt East—and, for that matter, those in suburbs like Cannon Hill, Holland Park, Carina and Coorparoo—can get access to at least something resembling fast, affordable and reliable broadband. This country deserves a world-class broadband network. Our competitors will have it and we need it as well.

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