Zaneta Mascarenhas (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. How is the Albanese Labor government securing the future of the National Broadband Network as a driver of a stronger economy? How does this compare to other approaches?

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Swan is an engineer from WA. She knows her stuff, and she's a terrific local member. I appreciate her question because the National Broadband Network is a key piece of economic infrastructure. It drives opportunity for Australians and prosperity for businesses and local communities, and that's why it needs to be publicly owned so it's affordable for all. High speed, affordable broadband transforms every part of our economy. It enables revolutions in e-commerce, telehealth, education and training, remote collaboration, and government services. The Liberals should understand this, but they don't. It also has vast potential connecting our regions, which suffered under the glacial Howard-era internet speeds for too long. The Nationals should understand this, but they don't.

The coalition's NBN was half as good for twice the cost. Their waste and mismanagement saw the NBN blow out by $29 billion. I want to pay tribute to the communications minister for her hard work in getting the NBN back on track with the support of this prime minister and his government. In our first budget, we invested $2.4 billion in the NBN to give 1½ million more homes and businesses access to the full fibre network, including over 660,000 in regional communities. One of the things we're really proud of is that we're reducing the digital divide through our School Student Broadband Initiative, which helps up to 30,000 families who didn't have internet access get free broadband, saving them $1,000 a year when they really need it. Because of all of our efforts, more than 10 million premises will have access to fast, full fibre by the end of next year.

This is how we help make our economy more productive and more dynamic. It's how we make our people and businesses and communities beneficiaries, not victims, of all of the churn and change we see in our economy. It's not by making them work longer for less but by investing in technology and human capital and adapting and adopting that technology. This investment is not optional; it's essential, and that side has never understood this. They have never understood the NBN and what it means for our economy. They squandered billions of dollars, and they made a total mess of its management, and we are turning it around—this Albanese government, this minister and her colleagues. We are making sure that the NBN is publicly owned and affordable for all because this helps make our communities and our economy stronger as a consequence.