Wyatt Roy (Longman, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is a great honour to rise on this matter of public importance. I think we should begin with a framework for the discussion we are having in the House today. The first thing is the simple principles that guide the debate around broadband in Australia.

Of course members on this side and the Labor side want all Australians to have incredibly fast internet, the fastest possible internet. Members on both sides would probably like it, if all Australians had that internet yesterday and that it took no time to roll out. I think members on the Labor and the Liberal side would like it if it was incredibly affordable and, if possible, did not cost anything at all.

But of course we have to deal with the real world; we have to deal with reality. The reality is that time and money matter. In my community, we have thousands of locals who, quite frankly, live in an internet wasteland. They have some of the worst internet connections in the country. My priority is not that they wait many, many years for an expensive internet nirvana; it is that they get the highest-quality possible connection as soon as possible and at the most affordable rate so that they can unlock those gains that come from increased productivity from a very good internet connection.

It is no good sitting around waiting for seven, eight or nine years. As the NBN strategic review showed, under the former Labor government's proposal, the NBN would not have been rolled out completely until 2024. It is no good waiting that long for an internet nirvana. They would haven give them a very good internet nirvana, a very expensive internet nirvana, but why sit in an internet wasteland for so long where kids cannot do their homework and people cannot run their small business from home?

When we came to government, we said, 'Of course, we want Australians to have a good connection as soon as possible at an affordable rate,' and we went about ensuring that we could deliver that. That means people in my community are going to have a very, very good internet connection literally years sooner than otherwise would have been the case, if the Labor Party had been re-elected. That is because we have done a few things.

When we came to power, the first thing we did was change the board of the NBN Co. We actually thought it would be a good idea, if people had telecommunications experience on the NBN Co board, so we changed the board. The next thing we did was conduct the myBroadband internet review—the first time in the country's history that we have actually done a review of internet availability in the country. So we mapped out where everybody's internet connections were and we could see who had the best and the worst internet connections.

We gave that to NBN Co and we said, 'Instead of rolling this out based on politics and ensuring that people in Sydney who already have a very good internet connection have an even better internet connection, prioritise the areas of most need first.' So people in my community, who have terrible internet connections, were prioritised over those people in Sydney or Melbourne, who already have quite good internet connections.

The next thing we did was trial the rollout of the FTTN network. That means people in my community—for 37,000 homes that have been part of this trial—will get a connection to the NBN literally years sooner than otherwise would have been the case.

The construction has already been completed, and they are now trialling this network, making sure that it is functioning properly. By February, locals—and I will go through some of the communities: all of Bribie Island—so Bongaree, Woorim and all of those communities; on the other side of the bridge, Caboolture, Caboolture South, Morayfield, Elimbah, Moodlu, Wamuran and Upper Caboolture; and down the road in Dakabin and Kallangar will all have access to incredibly fast internet by February. We have already started construction on another 5,000 homes in Beachmere, Goodwin Beach—I feel like I am singing 'I've been everywhere'—Ningi and Sandstone Point. They will have access to incredibly fast internet years sooner. If they go outside now, they will see that construction taking place.

This is a way of ensuring that we recognise the real world. That time and money—they mean things. For locals in my community, who would have otherwise had to wait years and years and years for an expensive internet connection, they will instead be connected to an incredibly fast network in the very near future, meaning they can do their homework, grow their businesses and enjoy that productivity.

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