Helen Coonan (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts) Share this | Hansard source

and pity help those poor people in rural and regional Australia who happen to live beyond the reach of an exchange. That is why wireless technology—this cutting-edge technology—has been developed right around the world and is now being deployed in all comparable rural and regional situations to ensure that there is a proper reach of at least 20 kilometres from a base station. So instead of treating rural and regional Australia as some second-class backwater, as the Labor Party would propose—and as Senator Stephens endorses, obviously—we will have universal coverage for all Australians, irrespective of where they live. Both Labor and Senator Stephens should go back to the drawing board and understand what they are talking about before they make comparisons about something they know nothing about.