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

The member for Canning is aggrieved that I asked questions about the broadband proposed to be laid out in Armadale and Kelmscott. He asks: How dare I? This is not my electorate. Firstly, having represented this community for 17 years, I have an enduring interest in their welfare. Secondly, in my shadow parliamentary secretary role I have responsibility for infrastructure across Western Australia. The fibre-to-the-node rollout will attempt to utilise an ageing, degraded, copper wire to deliver internet. Download and upload speeds will be massively less than those delivered under Labor's fibre to the home. And it is likely to be as expensive as fibre-to-the-home. NBN Co. has admitted it has no idea about the state of the copper network. We have pictures here of the copper—complete rubbish that will have to be replaced. Yes, Labor's rollout took time to build up steam but the rollout had begun in earnest. 'Fraudband' was promised as a dumbed down alternative which could be delivered everywhere by 2016. Now we know that that date has blown out to 2021.

The people of Armadale and Kelmscott have been dudded. They were on the superfast fibre rollout plan in 2013 and now they are only going to get the dud copper option.

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