Meryl Swanson (Paterson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories. Why is ongoing public ownership of the NBN important for our regions? And what other approaches are there?

Kristy McBain (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

():  I want to thank the member for Paterson for the question. She knows the value of access to affordable, high-speed NBN in our regions. Regional communities just like mine and just like hers rely on the NBN to access health care, to access education, for our businesses and to remain connected to each other. It was a Labor government that established the NBN, because there was a digital transformation happening across the world and we didn't want Australians to be left behind.

In this term of government, we've invested $2.4 billion to expand access to full-fibre NBN to 1.5 million homes across the nation. That includes 660,000 across our regions. We're building on that investment through the bill introduced today, which will ensure that the NBN is owned by people across Australia. We know in 2024 that connectivity is not a 'nice to have'; it's an absolute necessity, particularly for people in our regions. That is why only an Albanese Labor government will ensure that the NBN stays in government hands. Keeping it in government hands means we can retain oversight on pricing, on infrastructure investment and on service quality for all consumers.

I know firsthand, as a regional small-business owner, that reliable and affordable broadband impacts our bottom line. Without reliable connectivity to high-speed broadband, our business stops. We lose control of invoicing, inventory, payroll and remote staff access. When the wreckers opposite came to power in 2013 and started ripping fibre out of the ground they created a digital divide. That is not an analogy; it is literally a real-world example that happened 15 minutes over the border in my electorate, in Jerrabomberra, where half the suburb had access to full-fibre, first-rate, high-speed internet while the other half had to suffer through the ridiculous coalition copper dropout system for more than a decade.

It took a Labor government to provide high-speed connectivity to the rest of the suburb. Earlier this term, the Minister for Communications and I stood with the Jerrabomberra community to celebrate their final full connection to fibre broadband. Those opposite go into our regions making promises on what they'll deliver, but what they've delivered is a privatised Telstra and a second-rate NBN which has left our regions behind. Just as they sold Telstra, they'll sell the NBN. Given half a chance, they'd sell your grandma's couch—except they'd have to do the work of lifting it, so that might be a bit too hard!

Labor governments build things. We created the NBN. We created Medicare. We created the NDIS. And we'll keep it in government hands. (Time expired)