Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The coalition is delivering on its commitment to get the National Broadband Network rollout back on track and, importantly, into rural and regional areas. In my electorate of Hume, five wireless towers were recently activated, offering internet speeds faster than city based ADSL connections. Towers located in Cowra, Cowra West, Koorawatha, Noonbinna and Young West mean that an additional 1,239 premises in Hume can join the superfast era with the NBN.

The fixed wireless network uses 4G technology to deliver speeds of up to 25 megabits per second. Access to the network is a leap forward in speed and service. For example, a family can jump online at once and it has huge potential particularly for small businesses, and I of course include farmers in that category. This government's plan to deliver better broadband will mean that those in rural and regional areas are far better off.

A strategic review conducted by the NBN revealed that the true cost and timetable of completing Labor's NBN was enormous, and they provided some alternative options. The review found that if Labor's NBN had proceeded, it would have cost $72.6 billion—that is $29 billion more than the public were told—and it would take until 2024. This government's changes to the NBN rollout will save $32 billion, will see upgrades delivered four years sooner and will avoid internet retail bills increasing by up to 80 per cent, or $43 a month, for a typical household, which we would have seen under the Labor model.

In addition, Labor drastically underestimated demand in rural Australia—the area where internet connections are at their worst—meaning that 200,000 premises would not have been able to order an NBN service once the networks had been built. As a result the coalition is investing up to $1.2 billion more in rural Australia to ensure that the satellite and fixed wireless networks are able to cope with demand. In addition to the fixed wireless network activated recently in Cowra and Young, I am aware of other areas in my electorate that will soon have access to the NBN. I know that faster broadband is coming to the villages and rural communities around Goulburn and to Murringo. In Murringo, work on the construction and commissioning of the tower is well progressed. In Goulburn, the NBN has been working with the council and the community to determine the location of towers, with the rollout scheduled to commence in 2015. As with other areas in my electorate, I appreciate the support of councils and communities in making sure that this happens as quickly as possible.

This government has always said that it will prioritise areas of greatest need, and rural and regional areas have a great need for faster internet services. Progress with the NBN rollout outside of Hume has also been positive. Since the election, the government has more than doubled the reach of the fibre network and has more than quadrupled connections. The number of Australians accessing the fixed wireless network has increased ninefold. There were 2,336 connected in September 2013—at the time of the last election—and now, a year later, 21,925 are connected. That is almost 10 times more.

Over the coming year the NBN will again more than double the reach of its network. It has the goal of passing more than one million premises by July 2015. This is delivery; this is doing what we said we would do. This government is completely committed to rolling out the NBN and will do it as quickly as possible at less cost to taxpayers and more affordably for consumers. This is a great news story for my electorate, it is a great news story for my colleagues in rural and regional Australia and it is a great news story for Australians generally.