Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

We live in a world where technology and our reliance on the internet is common and, in fact, vital. Only a few years ago, during the pandemic, many of us had to work, shop or obtain healthcare advice through online services. For many Australians this remains the way of conducting their day-to-day life today, particularly in the healthcare field, which has been revolutionised by the internet, with telehealth becoming a common option for patients and healthcare professionals alike. Our hospital systems are now predominantly paperless, rely on the internet to interact with other health facilities and are becoming increasingly reliant on the internet for pathology, radiology and other services. Artificial intelligence is making this even more important.

The NBN allows individuals and organisations to connect, and so, for residents in my electorate, from Menangle Park to Kentlyn or from Campbelltown to Bardia, it's imperative that the NBN remains in public ownership for them to remain connected and for them to go on with their daily lives. This helps ensure there's strong regulatory oversight for when the network needs upgrading and to ensure that broadband remains affordable.

I'm proud of our government and the Minister for Communications for introducing vital legislation this week to keep the NBN from being privatised and for it to stay in public hands. The coalition is a threat to this. We know that high-speed broadband is essential to modern life and that public ownership of health infrastructure will keep us healthy and keep our health system evolving. We know that we need to keep broadband affordable so it becomes a benefit to all Australians, whether they live in the regions, whether they live in remote areas or whether they live in the inner cities.

The NBN is crucial national infrastructure, with cybersecurity and national security imperatives requiring strong government oversight. This is best delivered by a national government, and the NBN needs to stay in government ownership. Any future sale of the NBN would likely involve foreign ownership, raising potentially serious national sovereignty and security risks, as well as degrading the service because profit will come first, as it does with most of the infrastructure that the coalition government has sold off in the past. Feedback we've received, particularly from rural and regional Australia, shows that Australians want our National Broadband Network to remain in Australians' hands. We've seen the risk of cyberattacks on our networks all too well over the last few years, with outages, data hacks and slow and unreliable connections all affecting Australians in negative ways. To help avoid this from happening, it's imperative that Australian broadband services are owned, managed and serviced by Australians. Keeping the NBN in public ownership is essential to continue to provide modern, accessible and affordable communication services and secure services for all Australians.

The fibre and fixed wireless upgrades we took to the 2022 election are being delivered on time and on budget, which is effectively a first for any Australian government. Australians are now taking up fibre upgrades in record numbers, vastly improving their services. This is leading to a better customer experience, fewer faults and fewer technical problems. There are also very exciting innovations taking place with satellite technology, which can transform connectivity for all Australians, particularly those living in rural and regional areas. Delivering world-class connectivity at a time of rapid technological change requires strong orchestration from government, especially in support of our regional communities. Retaining the NBN in public ownership is key to that.

The coalition is responsible for selling off a lot of our public health infrastructure. It was an absolute tragedy, in 2016, that the Turnbull government sold off the national cancer register to Telstra Health for $220 million. This was done without any explanation to the public; it was done, really, with no explanation to the parliament; and it's been an absolute and ongoing tragedy. It's been plagued by poor management, missed deadlines, allegations of conflicts of interest by auditors and issues with data integration. For healthcare professionals it was seen as a terrible, terrible mistake for which the coalition has never been held responsible. It was an absolute tragedy, and they should be ashamed of it. It was overpriced and underdelivered, with the taxpayer footing a large bill for something they didn't need.

It's much like the coalition's willingness to sell off the NBN to a private provider. There are some things that simply cannot be allowed. We've learned that privatising critical infrastructure, particularly in health, doesn't work and doesn't benefit all Australians. We must prevent this happening. I congratulate the minister for bringing the bill to parliament, and I hope we never sell off our public health infrastructure.

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