Mark Bishop (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to take note of answers to various questions to Senator Coonan on the issue of broadband technology. As a senator from Western Australia, I need to place on the record at the outset my concerns over the current government’s plans for what has been described as a new, high-speed broadband network. As well as delivering a second-rate service to rural Australia, it will provide an inferior service to the booming suburbs on the fringes of the city of Perth. Why do I say that? Because this government intends to deliver only wireless broadband to these new, growing, developing, vibrant suburbs. Wireless broadband is slower than and inferior to the high-tech, fibre-to-the-node service that the Australian Labor Party will offer in due course. The government’s broadband network is earmarked only for cities.

After having stubbornly denied for the last two years that broadband was a problem, the Prime Minister, Mr Howard, has back-flipped with his $900 million deal. He is fobbing off rural and regional Australia—which covers vast tracts of Western Australia, including suburban Perth—with this old-fashioned, dated, slower wireless technology. If this wireless technology which the government is fobbing off on rural and regional Australia is as good as fibre then, as Senator Kirk said, the Prime Minister should be up front and commit to using these technologies exclusively in his own office and indeed in this parliament. Why does the Prime Minister believe that it is okay for the city to have access to fibre broadband, whilst making rural and regional Australia make do with a patchwork quilt of dated, lesser and older technologies? Western Australians—the people whom I represent—not only deserve better; they need better and they want better so they can actively participate in a growing, vibrant economy.

Labor’s plan for a national broadband network is a long-term investment in our nation’s future. We have promised—and we continue to promise—fibre-to-the-node broadband for 98 per cent of Australians. It is the only truly national plan that is going to bring world-class infrastructure to almost all Australians. This broadband issue shows that, whilst the Prime Minister has his sights set solely on the next election, Labor have a great vision for Australia.

The Prime Minister’s measures are bandaids in the lead-up to the next election. Even his communications minister, Senator Coonan, could not explain and sell the idea this week. That is because she is unaware of the consequences and the fine print of her own deal, as are most Australians. Senator Coonan wrongly said the government would deliver broadband to all Australians at the same speed—12 megabits per second. Even God could not deliver 12 megabits by satellite! In reality, wireless simply cannot deliver those broadband speeds. As Senator Kirk outlined, it also suffers from a range of technical problems which have not yet been solved. It is affected by bad weather, hilly geography and congestion on the lines. None of these problems, for which we have not got solutions, were mentioned in any way by Senator Coonan. This is because it is a government that has run out of ideas. The best it can do is to try and copy, run behind and follow on Labor’s ideas for a national broadband system.

The Australian people want guidance and leadership from their politicians, not simple, back-of-the-envelope calculations that seek to copy what has already been announced by a major political party. That is why Labor led the charge on broadband with its own policy. Labor believes it makes more sense to extend the reach of a national fibre-to-the-node network rather than subsidise old, dated, technologies that will not deliver the speed that is required. This will provide the best service for all Australians. (Time expired)

Question agreed to.