Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is always a pleasure to rise in this chamber and speak about the extensive progress that this government is making with the NBN rollout across the country, in direct comparison to those opposite and their failures with that project. I am pleased to say that another few suburbs in the electorate in Forde will soon be receiving access to faster and more reliable broadband through the National Broadband Network. The message for the residents of Windaroo, Bannockburn, Belivah and Bahrs Scrub is clear: the super-fast broadband is on its way. As you drive through those suburbs, you can see the contractors from NBN Co rolling out the cable.

I was very pleased to catch up with a number of those residents in the last little while and talk to them about what the NBN is going to provide. I am also thankful to Amber Dornbusch from NBN Co for coming to that meeting and talking about some of the detail of the network as it is rolled out. The NBN has also commenced construction across the highway in Gilberton, in Woongoolba, and also in Chambers Flat and Buccan, with around 330 premises which will receive a fixed wireless network.

But importantly, the next cab off the rank will be the area covering Yatala, which is the location of the Yatala enterprise area—one of the major business areas in the electorate of Forde. For many businesses operating in the area's industrial estates, this work cannot come quickly enough. The contract for this work will be released soon, and, with a community of around 1,700 premises, we expect to see workers on the ground in March rolling out the network.

In the six years of the Labor government, only 50,000 premises were connected to the NBN across the country. In Forde, that was fewer than 800 homes. In the last month alone, the coalition government has connected more than 80,000 homes to the NBN network, and we have achieved the tremendous milestone of four million homes across Australia.

In my electorate of Forde, more than 5,800 homes are now able to access the NBN, which is a terrific start. If you have a look at the rollout map, that is regularly being updated with new areas that are receiving the rollout. I know there are thousands of people in my electorate who cannot wait to see the NBN connected. As they say, 'Rome wasn't built in a day,' and neither is a major national infrastructure project, but it is this coalition government that is getting on with the job of rolling out the NBN to Australians right across the country. It is now rolling out efficiently and effectively, and I am excited to say that more than 80 per cent of my electorate will be connected by the end of 2018.