Stephen Jones (Whitlam, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Development and Infrastructure) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A few moments ago, right there, the Prime Minister was bragging and slapping himself on the back and talking about what an amazing job he has done with rolling out the National Broadband Network. Well, I can tell you, right throughout regional Australia there are a whole bunch of people who were shaking their heads and saying, 'What planet is this guy living on?' They are people like Mr Langley of Burradoo, who cannot get his premises connected to the NBN, despite the fact that the NBN was rolled through his neighbourhood, and he cannot get an answer about when he will be connected. Mr Tuck of Kanahooka is still not connected almost six months after his building was completed, and the NBN has been rolled through his neighbourhood. Mr Turner, another bloke from Burradoo, who runs an IT consultancy home business, has had no phone and no data since 1 November. Then there is Mr Alekson, who runs a multinational business from Warilla. He has built his business in a new premises in an area where the NBN has been rolled out. He cannot even get a landline.

These are the guys to whom the Prime Minister is saying, 'There's never been a more exciting time,' lecturing us on how we have to be more nimble and agile. I am talking about people who are living in an area designated by the NBN as service class zero, and there are over 50,000 of them. Every time the PM says there has never been a more exciting time, these people are saying, 'What planet is this guy on?' (Time expired)