Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

For many years I have been talking about the poor internet connections in my community. There was some reprieve from that between 2007 and 2013; we started to see action when it came to internet connection. As the NBN rolled out across southern suburbs, we started to see faster speeds. Of course, that all came to a screeching halt when the coalition was elected in 2013, which created a digital divide in my community: those that had fast fibre to their home, which enabled them to get good speeds for their businesses and their homes, versus those who got new copper laid to their homes. That included the suburbs of Hallett Cove, Sheidow Park and Trott Park. In the lead-up to the last election, Labor made a clear commitment that they would address this and would expand the proper NBN rollout to provide full-fibre access for an additional 1.5 million premises by 2025.

I have to say, in my community, for those that had missed out on Labor's original full fibre, there was a lot of celebration. I was so pleased when the minister announced that the first tranche after Labor had been elected would cover 30,000 residents in my electorate getting new access to fibre NBN. This includes Flagstaff Hill, Christies Beach, Reynella and Port Noarlunga, and the list goes on. Residents have been celebrating this. I'd like to give a few quotes. Henk Rhee from Noarlunga Downs said, 'This will benefit a lot of people, and that's good for them and the nation going forward.' Gaelyne Gasson from Reynella said, 'I am really excited about fibre NBN and will definitely be following the link in the letter.'

Our investment will help more Australians participate in the digital economy, whether that is working from home, staying connected to family and friends or supporting their business. One of the other areas that I'm particularly excited about is the upgrades coming to Morphett Vale. Not only will it affect so many people in my electorate; my electorate office has continually been plagued with difficult internet problems as a result of laying more copper. It is the Albanese Labor government that is looking to the future. While those opposite saw the future in more copper in the ground, our government has its eyes firmly fixed on the future, and that is a fibre future.

See this speech in context