Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Finally, upper Blue Mountains residents are going to have the benefit of full-fibre internet as part of the Albanese Labor government's commitment to expanding access to 1.5 million additional premises. This is going to be such welcome news for people in the first areas to be converted from fibre to the node to fibre to the premises. Blackheath, Leura, Wentworth Falls and Katoomba will be upgraded throughout 2024, and there are more announcements to come on the remaining villages.

Residents in these areas have been tied to the old copper network, which can never meet the demands of 21st century connectivity. We were one of the first areas to receive fibre to the node, and the problems with connection and service throughout the rollout and since have demonstrated how inadequate it is. The now Minister for Communications joined me in Blackheath in 2017 to hear about slow speeds and dropouts. And then in November 2021 the now Prime Minister and the minister came to Leura to make the commitment to increase the fibre in the NBN network to start to fix the mess that we had been left with.

Reliable internet is more vital than ever before. Families and businesses depend on it. It isn't a luxury; it's an absolute essential. In six years we've seen NBN data use triple, and we don't expect that to slow. This is a big win for the years of struggle for people in the upper mountains.