Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is no wonder that Labor is flailing about on this issue and trying to get lots of coverage, because it has been exposed. Its policy proposals have been blown out of the water by a better package delivered by the Howard government on broadband and the future communications infrastructure of this country. It is a package that is more comprehensive and that recognises that one size does not necessarily fit all, a package that delivers across the spectrum of the Australian community—unlike Labor’s policy, which is an attempt at a simple, one-size-fits-all that is going to blow billions of dollars of public money.

The government has recognised that we do need to address areas in which there may be market failure, and we recognise that they may exist in regional areas. That is why the government has committed some $600 million to providing the most effective mix of infrastructure to deliver broadband technology as fast as possible to regional Australia. It is a mix of fibre optic, ADSL2+ and wireless broadband. It is recognition that the government is willing to put in place the best and most appropriate technology to get broadband as fast and as cheaply as possible into the communities where it is needed. Where the markets can deliver, we are backing the development of a commercial fibre optic network—again, ensuring that it is done faster than under Labor’s plan but ensuring that we do not have to put public money into it, because there is no market failure.

Labor wants to spend billions of hard-earned Australian taxpayers’ dollars addressing a market failure that does not exist in metropolitan areas. Instead, we are putting our faith in the private sector, through a competitive tender process, to deliver that infrastructure. All up, that is going to ensure that we cover some 99 per cent of Australian households—a greater number than would be covered by Labor’s proposal, faster than Labor’s proposal and with a more effective mix of technologies. Just to ensure that the remaining one per cent do not miss out—and because the government has always been committed to ensuring that people in regional and rural Australia get the right mix of technologies—we will also have in place the Australian Broadband Guarantee, ensuring a subsidy of up to $2,750 per household to allow those who might miss out under the other two schemes to access broadband.

This is a much better proposal. It is a proposal in which my home state, South Australia, is a winner. I was delighted to read this morning that, as a result of the awarding of the tender to the Elders consortium, there will be 450 extra jobs coming to Adelaide. It is excellent news for South Australia and something we welcome warmly. Not only will we get better broadband infrastructure in South Australia as a result of this but we will get more jobs in a high-tech industry as well. It is great news for South Australia.

We hear allegations from the other side that states such as Tasmania may miss out. Perhaps the other side need to do their homework, because I understand that Tasmania will not miss out. There is already a high-speed optical fibre cable going to Tasmania, built at the cost of some $24 million by the Tasmania government and doing absolutely nothing at present. It is lying idle. The Labor Party, whose government in Tasmania built this $24 million cable, should be thanking the government for the fact that we are delivering the capacity for that piece of infrastructure to be utilised in the north of Tasmania. That will ensure that Burnie, Devonport, Ulverstone and Wynyard all get access to ADSL2+, contrary to what is being alleged on the opposite side. Indeed, as the minister indicated, Hobart will also be included in the tender documents. So South Australia is a winner, Tasmania is a winner; all of Australia is a winner under this proposal, because we will be saved from Labor’s plan. We are going to get great infrastructure here, and all of Australia will win by being saved from a plan that would deliver less for the future in connection speeds and coverage across Australia, and would deliver less funds available for the future by raiding the $2 billion Communications Fund—not just raiding it but wiping that out—and by raiding $2.7 billion from the Future Fund. It is a case of delivering less for Australia from that side, more from this side. We have developed a plan for the future. Compare that with the policy backflip of Labor—the uncertainty on policy. Senator Lundy back on 1 December told the AFR broadband Australia 2006 conference that— (Time expired)