Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yesterday, sadly I missed an opportunity to speak on the member for Boothby's fine motion on the NBN rollout. This time for statements gives me an opportunity to report that 98 per cent of premises in Grey are ready to connect. Around 50 per cent of them have done so, and it is heading into the high sixties in those communities that have had the NBN for almost two years and are approaching the transition dates. This is a very good outcome. I expect a final bit of a splurge. Satellite take-up is a little bit slower, but we are getting very few complaints about the satellite system in my office now. Generally, the reason people haven't changed is because they have some kind of service which they think is okay, but I suggest that they will be on the satellite before long.

It's worthwhile reflecting that the system is expected now to be built for $51 billion and will be four years earlier than that proposed by our opponents. In 2007, when we came to government and Malcolm Turnbull became the communications minister, he picked up a model which he wasn't keen on. He said we wouldn't have built it as a government—we would have allowed the telcos to build in the cities and the government would have fixed up the gaps. But, of course, when Labor came to power they immediately confiscated $2 billion from the future telecommunications fund and redirected it into the NBN, which cost $7 billion to get past three per cent of premises in Australia—just 821 in Grey. (Time expired)