Ruth Webber (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I can change lots of things, Senator Abetz. Given the minister’s answer, I refer her to the Broadband Australia Campaign brochure recently sent to Telstra’s 1.6 million shareholders. Is the minister aware that the brochure claims that Australia is ‘17th of 30 developed countries in broadband penetration’, ‘25th in the world in available internet bandwidth’ and ‘15th in the world in networked readiness’? Is the minister also aware that this brochure states:

If government and regulators don’t allow the next wave of internet investment, Australia will be left behind ... as our global competitors work even smarter and faster.

Why has the minister allowed Australia to fall behind the rest of the world in investment in broadband? Will the minister now make the regulatory changes necessary to facilitate the investment in broadband that Australia needs?