Gai Brodtmann (Canberra, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last Thursday night, shadow communications minister Jason Clare and I met with around 100 Canberrans who are still waiting for the NBN. We listened to their stories, we heard their frustrations and we shared in their feelings of betrayal.

Before the election, the Prime Minister promised that all Australians would have access to the NBN by the end of 2016. Then the government admitted, at the end of 2013, that they would be breaking this promise; and now, under this government, large parts of the ACT will get a second-rate NBN that relies on old copper—that is, if Canberrans can even find their suburb on the roll-out map. Residents in suburbs like Monash and Theodore are struggling to get access to any type of internet, and it is extremely expensive if they can get it. It is simply not good enough—not good enough, Minister for Communications.

Under Labor, every home in the ACT would have had access to the world-class fibre-to-the-premises version of the NBN. Labor has a vision where everyone can access the tools they need on the web—tools for training, tools for learning and tools for sharing. We envisage a country where no-one is left behind. The NBN represents just another broken promise to the people of Canberra.

Since this government came to office, we have seen broken promises on education, broken promises on health and broken promises on funding to the ABC and SBS.