Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

According to the tender proposal, Senator Abetz; it is written there in black and white. In addition, $400 million will also be available from the Building Australia Fund for regional telecommunications, subject to the government’s consideration of the Glasson review. This is in stark contrast to the previous government, which would only have provided around $400 million every three years to spend on improving telecommunications in rural and regional Australia. Under the previous government’s approach, regional Australians would have waited 35 long years to reach the same level of investment that the Rudd government is prepared to make right away. That is right: 35 years from those—