Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Continuing my Youth Voices in Parliament campaign, I'd like to introduce Karthik, a 16-year-old student passionate about the NBN. These are his words:

Australia must invest generously towards maintaining and upgrading our technological capabilities to ensure that, as an economy, we have the best chance of competing with the rest of the world. As a result of it's handling, the NBN has simply not turned out the way that I and many other young people will have wanted. Many of us are still stuck behind slow download speeds, especially during peak usage hours. I speak for many in asking for an improvement in our current situation. As a Twenty-First Century child, I have grown up in a world surrounded by technology and the internet, and it has shaped my life greatly, and will continue to impact my life and the lives of those in my generation. I use modern technology in both work and play. We can make use of it to talk with friends and family, or entertain ourselves. But we must be aware that it is impacting the way we work now, and will work in the future. New jobs and fields are being created because of technology.

While I cannot say for certain what exactly the future holds, I can say for sure that technology will play a very large part. Modern advances in technology have greatly improved efficiency by making a lot of things easier and it has vastly aided in spreading the wealth of human knowledge …

… I want to use my rare opportunity to talk, to advocate for more investment in technology. Whatever form it takes, whether it be helping start-ups or upgrading infrastructure, Australia must do something to make sure it is not left behind.

Thanks, Karthik!