Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The NBN, as we know, is one of the single largest infrastructure rollouts seen in our nation's history. A rollout of the scale understandably takes time, and the Turnbull government is delivering better broadband across Australia in the fastest and most affordable way, on time, as promised and under budget. The coalition is working hard to make sure this happens for all Australians. In December last year, the coalition announced a range of consumer protections that are now being introduced. They include new rules to be enforced by ACMA to stop complaints handballing; giving the TIO better tools to resolve complaints; mandating line tests to confirm working connection and installation; and mandating explanations to customers about how speed tiers will affect them, their families and their businesses.

In Bonner, more than 56 per cent of the NBN rollout is already completed, and more than 17,500 households have taken up an NBN service. Let me tell you, I have had nowhere near as many complaints as we all are led to believe happen if we are to listen to those opposite. I have proudly taken ownership over the NBN in my electorate of Bonner, teaming up with my NBN reps and technicians to educate locals as well as advocate for the best possible outcomes for constituents, including the extension of the newly introduced fibre-to-the-curb technology. In the last year I've held a number of NBN forums with representatives from NBN and telecommunication providers, seniors' specific forums and mobile offices around Bonner. I am in regular contact with the minister's office, and as soon as I am made aware of an area that is about to become NBN-ready, my team and I letterbox drop and host mobile offices to make sure that locals know about the service and what they need to do to make the switch. In the next month I'll be hosting two more: one at Gumdale on 5 June and one on the 14th in Mount Gravatt.

I'm not going to say to that I've had no complaints, but I will proudly stand here and say that on the complaints that I have received I have worked with the minister's office, NBN and the telecommunications providers to ensure that issues are dealt with, and my constituents are thankful for that. Cameron Day from Holland Park West contacted me last year and said:

My nbn was connected this week, thank you so much for your help!! It's good to know that there are people like yourself who get things done. I'll remember that. Politics isn't something I've care for much, however you have certainly changed that.

Eight Mile Plains resident Mr Sum recently reached out to tell me about the social and economic benefits that he and his work have received thanks to the introduction of the NBN in Bonner. Mr Sum said:

I've lived here for a decade and NBN is one of the best things to happen here. ADSL was slow and the other options were terrible and super expensive. Now that I'm connected to NBN I'm able to work from home, live stream on two HD devices. I've had my service for 6 months now and never had an issue in fact; it has put extra money back into my pocket.

With that, I would like to ask the positive impacts others have felt as a result of the NBN. Last year NBN Co commissioned data analytics and economics firm AlphaBeta to investigate the social and economic impacts of the National Broadband Network. Can the minister outline the status of the NBN rollout in Queensland and some of the key findings from the Connecting Australia research report?

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