Stephen Jones (Throsby, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Development and Infrastructure) Share this | Hansard source

I want to bring to the attention of parliament the results of the Throsby broadband report, which has been informed by responses to over 1,000 surveys in my local electorate. It concludes that there is a clear and urgent economic and social need for an upgrade of telecommunications infrastructure across the Illawarra and Southern Highlands. It also finds that small business and job creation are being hampered by existing services—or, should I say, the lack of existing services—and that the last mile of copper is not an option for a network so badly degraded that connectivity is affected by the rain.

Weekly, I get dozens of phone calls, emails and letters from people about their poor copper connections. It gets damp; their phone lines go down. I asked people to tell me about their experience of their current connections. Sara from Oak Flats told me: 'We run two home businesses and it interferes greatly with our income. We also experience frequent dropouts.' Paul from Albion Park told me: 'I run a small business from home … I'm considering a move to where the NBN is connected just so I can work at a decent speed.' Shannon from Mittagong told me the internet is affecting his productivity, meaning more time commuting to and from work instead of working from home when he can. He said: 'We cannot obtain a fast internet connection. I work from home and commute to Sydney and require fast speeds to work.' Tony from Albion Park told me, 'People in Sydney laugh about the connection speeds we have here in Albion Park.' And Tassa from Barrack Heights said, 'Our telephone exchange in Warilla is one of the oldest in the country and we have ongoing issues with the phone lines after rain.' Morgan from Tullimbar said her connection 'is slow, making my work as a bookkeeper near impossible. It's very frustrating knowing that houses five metres away have the NBN!' Tullimbar is a relatively new development where some houses are connected to the fibre; however, other houses next door or across the road will never get a fibre connection because of Malcolm Turnbull and this government.

Broadband is absolutely critical to the future economic development of the Illawarra and Southern Highlands. Many members in this place would know that the region is going through an economic transformation, with jobs being lost and businesses struggling in the manufacturing sector. Fast, reliable, affordable broadband is absolutely critical to the future economic prosperity of the region. It is absolutely critical that we get a proper broadband connection, not the broadband that is on offer. There is some good news in Dapto, where they are getting fibre-to-the-home and it is making an absolute difference to their lifestyle and their businesses.

I seek leave to table a copy of the Throsby broadband report.

Leave granted.

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