Alannah Mactiernan (Perth, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It was, but we developed the plan. Now Minister Turnbull has said he is going to have this fixed—but he has not fixed it. Let me tell you a story from the member for Forrest's own electorate—the story of Jeff Pow and Michelle McManus of Balingup. They have a vertically integrated, specialist, free-range poultry business. They are a young entrepreneurial couple who direct sales through social media. This has given their company a very high profile, and it has made them profitable. They rely on the internet for the way in which their business is structured. They tell me that they have such abysmal speeds and data packages that they are simply insufficient for running a modern business. 'We are disadvantaged,' they tell me. They tell me that every day they have to put their computer in the car and drive off into town—a 30-kilometre round trip—to get enough signal so that they can continue to operate their business.

Rolling out this infrastructure is a challenge. But let us be very clear: this is a vision that was driven by Labor and dumbed down by this government. There are challenges. Minister Turnbull is not able to deliver the speeds that he has promised, nor has he been able to commit to the delivery schedule that we had set up in relation to satellite. He has found he has to delay both of those satellites that are delivering the long-term satellite scheme that the member for Forrest was talking about. These are difficult and challenging areas. But let us remember, it was Labor that had the vision. (Time expired)

Debate adjourned.

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