Linda Kirk (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Coonan, the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. Is the minister aware that Australia is ranked just 17th for its use of broadband out of 30 countries surveyed by the OECD? Can the minister confirm that ACCC figures show that Australia’s broadband growth rate fell in every quarter of 2006? Is the minister aware that Australia’s leading media proprietors—News Ltd Chairman, Rupert Murdoch; PBL Executive Chairman, James Packer; and Fairfax CEO, David Kirk—have described Australia’s broadband infrastructure as a ‘disgrace’, ‘embarrassing’ and ‘fraudband’? Why has the Howard government allowed Australia to fall behind the rest of the world in an area of crucial importance to Australia’s future economic growth?