Deborah O'Neill (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to draw the attention of the House to an event in the seat of Robertson next week which is of direct relevance to the debates going on in parliament this week. Next Tuesday a group of enthusiastic local businesses and community leaders will gather at the new media studios at Mount Penang Parklands at Kariong to kick off the Central Coast regional NBN business case. The Central Coast business case event forum will be held in the new media studios of the campaign director Dave Abrahams. Dave is the chair of our local Youth Connections community group and may I say that they are doing amazing things in getting the most disadvantaged kids, who have fallen out of school, re-engaged and back into training and jobs. He is also joined in this campaign by Edgar Adams, the publisher of the Central Coast Business Review, who had this to say:

The most worrying element continues to be that the coalition completely lacks the vision and understanding of broadband as an essential ingredient in delivering the urgently needed government innovations in health care, transport, energy, environment and education.

He was 100 per cent correct. This group is aiming to pull together the regional business case to advance our site as an early roll-out spot—or as prompt as possible in getting the National Broadband Network unveiled in our area. The goal is to produce a website and social media campaigns. Some of these will be filmed locally. Contributing partners understand the Central Coast’s burning need for liberation of this new technology. I look forward to attending the visit next week.