Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

We just heard from the member for Lyons, and he said that, when we took over as government in 2013, the NBN was well underway, but during part of my speech I'll be happy to remind him how well it was underway. We also heard the member for Fisher talk about an own goal, and it reminded me of a question from the Leader of the Opposition back on 14 September, when I managed to send a GIF to one of the members opposite. I won't name who it was, but I sent a GIF to one of the members opposite of a bloke playing soccer who tries to kick the ball over his head but actually kicks it into his head, and it goes into the goal. That reminds me of this MPI. It's an own goal.

These MPIs on the NBN have been going on since 2010. There are a lot of new members here, but I see the member for Hunter. He'll know. He's probably participated in a few MPIs on the NBN over the years. Back in 2015, when some of the members who are now in here weren't here, there was a question I gave to the Minister for Urban Infrastructure, who at that time was the Minister for Territories, Local Government and Major Projects. He certainly wasn't the minister for the Asian century. I don't know where he's gone now, but I know there was one back when Labor were in power. They have all disappeared, those ministers. My question to the minister at the time was:

I have received … letters from my constituents about the poor broadband service in the Ascot exchange. In 2007 the then Labor member wrote to the constituents of Swan and said that they would solve this—

by 2009.

They said they would fix it, but in six years they did nothing. They were absolutely useless. What action is the coalition government taking to reverse Labor's inaction and pathetic uselessness, and to help my constituents in the Ascot exchange?

There were a lot of interjections, because a few of the members over there, particularly the Manager of Opposition Business, said there was argument within that particular question, but the Speaker allowed it, and this was the minister's answer. I'll remind the member for Lyons to listen to how well underway they were in Western Australia. This'll tell you how well underway, after five years of rolling out the NBN, they were in Western Australia. Mr Fletcher said:

I do want to thank the member for Swan for this question, which really reflects a campaign that he has been assiduously pursuing in the totality of his time here in the parliament in relation to the delivery of broadband in Ascot.

There is, as the member informed the House, a letter on the record from Kim Wilkie MP, the then Labor member for Swan, from September 2007 which says:

Labor's National Broadband Network will solve Ascot's broadband problems.

There it was. There was the promise in 2007. And so, when the new member for Swan—as he then was in 2007—came to the parliament, he understandably pursued the delivery of that promise—

through the Labor government. What happened? Nothing. The answer continued:

To his great surprise, when the city of Belmont and the Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council put forward a proposal to prioritise the Ascot exchange, it was rejected by the then minister for broadband, Senator Conroy. He rejected out of hand the proposal, when there had been a promise only two years before by the then Labor member for Swan that Ascot would be sorted out.

It has fallen—as it always does—to the coalition to sort out Labor's mess. We are doing that with the NBN all around Australia. We are doing that in the electorate of Swan, where there are 28,000 premises ready for service today. I am sure there are many in the House who recollect that the total number of premises connected in all of Western Australia in 2013—

wait for it—

when we came to government, was 34.

After five years, only 34 premises in the whole of Western Australia had been connected.

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