Natasha Griggs (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

No, the former speaker. He was talking about the things that are happening in our party, but I think they need to look at what is going on in their own party.

I would like to give you some updates about what is happening in the NBN in the Northern Territory. We are actually really delighted with the services that we are getting. There is a lot of hullabaloo about what is happening, but we are doing a great job in the Northern Territory, and I am really pleased. In fact, we have NBN being installed as we speak in my house in Marlow Lagoon, along with other houses in other areas. We have homes and businesses in Tiwi, Lyons, Leanyer, Wanguri, Casuarina, Anula, Moil, Wagaman, Wulagi, Alawa, Malak, Marrara, Karama, Stuart Park, Fannie Bay, Larrakeyah, Parap, The Gardens, Moulden, Rosebery, Woodroffe and, as I said, Marlow Lagoon and also Darwin city. All these suburbs have access to the NBN.

This government, under the leadership of the now Prime Minister, made sure where the need was greatest. We all know that Darwin is the capital of north Australia, and there is some fantastic work happening in north Australia, so it is absolutely essential that we have technology available to us.

I am really pleased that the NBN is rolling out. In fact, it is ahead of schedule in most cases. It is expected that, by the end of this year, the whole of Darwin and Palmerston, which covers my whole electorate of Solomon, will have access to the NBN. This is great news. Even in the next electorate over, in Lingiari, they will have NBN as well. There is some work happening now. Optus have said that from Litchfield to Palmerston, and also in Darwin, they will be calling in to make sure that areas will have access through Optus's service provisions, which is great news.

I also have to say that the take-up of the NBN seems to be going quite well. There have been some areas that were not addressed. We raised those with the former communications minister, and, as I said, he worked to make sure that those people had access to this technology. Mr Deputy Speaker, as you know, my career prior to politics was actually in the information technology and communications area, so I know how important it is to have access to the technology that we are employing in Solomon.

I really am delighted by the fact that we actually are getting on with the job. The former government had lots of whistleblowing. I know that Kevin Rudd came to town, and the candidate for Solomon then, who is now a staffer for Senator Peris, was there with all the hype and glamour and the TV cameras, but actually nothing happened. It was this government that ensured that we delivered the NBN. As I said, by the end of this year, the NBN in my electorate of Solomon, covering all of Darwin and Palmerston, will almost be completed. That is a great achievement, and I am looking forward to the wonderful things that this is going to provide us in terms of developing north Australia.

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