Elizabeth Watson-Brown (Ryan, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Internet and phone services are not just conveniences; they're vital lifelines. But here in Australia we're falling woefully short of the standards we should expect in a wealthy developed nation. It's a tragedy of the making of both major parties.

Ultimately, full-fibre broadband should have been rolled out smoothly, at world standard, by a publicly owned Telstra. But Labor's privatisation of Telstra in the nineties deprived the government of the logical vehicle to deliver a national broadband network. It also meant it had to negotiate with corporate behemoth Telstra to deliver the NBN, which effectively lead to enormous cost blowouts and time wasted. Meanwhile, Labor's addiction to corporatisation also led them to set up the NBN as a public corporation that had to turn a profit early in the rollout, causing higher prices for consumers and poorly targeted rollout priorities. Then, in 2013, the LNP government gutted the plan even further, slashed the funding and went for a multitechnology mix that included the infamous fibre-to-the-node and lesser-known hybrid fibre coaxial, or HFC—an old Foxtel network not remotely fit for purpose.

The NBN has recently launched a round of upgrades across the country, but I'm afraid it's a lottery for many. If your home is stuck with a HFC connection, you're out of luck on an upgrade. In The Gap and Michelton, both suburbs in my electorate of Ryan, most people have a HFC connection, and, in our recent survey about this, we discovered many people experience frequent dropouts—especially in the rain—and low speeds or completely unstable connections. The UK and the USA know HFC is bad news; that's why they're looking at upgrading their whole network to the international standard of fibre-to-the-premise.

My survey revealed the shocking state of our telecommunications in Ryan. Over 50 per cent of respondents reported slow, unreliable and overpriced mobile services. For home internet, it was even worse; more than 60 per cent said they had issues and a shocking 70 per cent reported frequent dropouts, with some suffering for days or even a week without resolution. It's incredibly frustrating for many residents in suburbs like Kenmore, Bellbowrie or The Gap, who have to take calls in the backyard because of poor reception. Meanwhile, everyday Australians struggle to get their work done, help their kids with homework or even just watch a movie.

Telecom CEOs are raking in millions. Telstra's Vicki Brady is on $5.25 million, Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin is on over $5 million and NBN CEO Stephen Rue is on $3 million. Labor and the LNP's corporate model for crucial infrastructure and services has failed. (Time expired)