Gai Brodtmann (Canberra, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Cyber Security and Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week, I had the great pleasure of meeting with a group of young leaders from across Canberra. They were an impressive group of young Canberrans, and they had an equally impressive list of issues that they wanted to discuss with me: youth development programs, grants, heating and air conditioning for their community facilities and the NBN.

In short, they want NBN in Canberra, and they want it yesterday. They want NBN connected to their community facilities so they can take part in national programs that are rolling out online. They want NBN connected to their homes so they can do their homework from their bedroom or kitchen table, not from the local library or a friend's house, as is the case for too many Canberra students. They want NBN so their large families can all use the internet at the same time, not taking it in turns through the evening, which is currently the case. They want NBN so they can realise their educational opportunities. They want NBN so they can realise their potential.

Some of these leaders live in a part of Canberra where the internet connection is in the Dark Ages. I'm talking about south-east Tuggeranong, which is just 20 kilometres from Parliament House. Just 20 kilometres from Parliament House students are trying to do their homework with speeds of less than one megabit per second upload and download. And the roll out timetable for that area keeps getting kicked further and further down the road. This in our nation's capital, this in 2018—this is the Liberals' vision for Canberra.