Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I too rise to make comment about Minister Coonan’s answers to questions. I was disappointed to hear the comments of Senator Ronaldson, who purports to represent rural Australia. Once again we see the Howard government responding to Labor initiatives and trying to play catch-up, just like with climate change. This government only appears to take notice of problems once the Labor Party has drawn its attention to them. This Prime Minister seems to be a sceptic on anything to do with the future. Whether it is climate change or broadband—you name it—this government refuses to accept that there is a problem until Kevin Rudd and the Labor Party point it out. Then it puts together something with a bit of spin and no substance and hopes that no-one will see through it and the problem will just go away.

The government’s backflip on broadband shows a lack of vision that is characteristic of this government. It has nothing left in its tank, and all it can do is be towed along by Labor on issues of national significance such as broadband and climate change. The government’s broadband plan as announced is nothing more than another election year bandaid for a problem that requires a long-term solution. The Prime Minister has realised, months out from an election, unsurprisingly, that broadband is a serious issue and that he cannot get away with closing his eyes and pretending broadband is not an issue. Labor realised this a long time ago and put forward its own national broadband policy, which represents a massive long-term investment in Australia’s future. Kevin Rudd has put forward a vision for this country’s broadband future that looks at what is best for everyone, regardless of where they live.

This government’s policy does nothing of the kind. It makes a distinction between rural and metropolitan areas and it offers wireless access for regional areas. I ask why, if wireless is such an excellent solution, the Prime Minister, the minister and her colleagues do not switch over to wireless completely. Somehow I cannot see that happening, yet the Prime Minister is perfectly happy to propose the same solution for millions of Australians. Of course, this government does not really care about the quality of the access it is providing to Australians. It is all about the spin of putting something forward, even if it is nowhere near what is required.

Wireless is hardly a solution to rural broadband issues. It still has a range of problems, such as declining performance due to distance, bad weather or the number of users at any one time, let alone the problems in a community like Tasmania, where there are geographical challenges. Wireless has a place as a complement to fixed-line broadband services but cannot be a replacement as the government intends. We need the vision and foresight to take us forward into the future, and we need to invest in the infrastructure that will help our rural areas. To do that we need to provide them with the best possible fixed-line broadband services that we can—exactly what is proposed by Kevin Rudd and Labor.

Once again, we see the government looking for the quick fix, the easy solution. I should not be surprised that this is what the government is proposing—it is an election year, after all. That is the only time that this out-of-touch government pays any attention to issues that Labor has drawn to its attention. Does anyone here really think that this broadband plan would have been cobbled together if there was not an election or that climate change would even be acknowledged as an issue by the Prime Minister if it was not an election year? It illustrates just how out of touch with the Australian public this government and this Prime Minister are, that it takes an election and polls to wake them up to the issues facing Australians.

Labor believe that regional areas, including many places in my own state of Tasmania, deserve to have the same broadband opportunities and infrastructure as metropolitan areas. We do not agree with the two-tier system that has been cobbled together when there is an election around the corner. Labor’s proposal delivers a minimum speed increase 40 times greater than current speeds to everyone, no matter where they live. The government is proposing 12-megabit coverage using a wireless system. We are proposing a much more solid fixed-line broadband solution that will provide a much faster alternative to the government’s proposal. Our solution is not a cheap bandaid like what the Prime Minister is proposing.

We believe that it is important to set up our broadband infrastructure now so that Australians are no longer disadvantaged and so that living in the bush certainly does not disqualify you from access to fast internet services. That is our long-term vision for the country—an internet infrastructure that delivers fast, effective broadband to all Australians. This hacked-together plan does nothing of the kind; it is the worst kind of— (Time expired)

Question agreed to.