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

I did listen to you and I will come to your comments a little bit later, Senator Cormann, I assure you. During its 11 years in office the previous government presided over 18 failed broadband plans. As a result of this neglect and inaction, Australia’s broadband performance has been left languishing. This is a shameful and embarrassing record. But those opposite are not content with the damage they have already done. Now they want to jeopardise the deployment of first-class broadband in Australia from opposition. It is not good enough to have sabotaged the country while in government; you are now at it again.

It is clear that this is nothing more than a cheap political stunt concocted by the opposition in a further abuse of their Senate majority. They are moving a motion proposing an inquiry into the government’s decision to deliver high-speed broadband to 98 per cent of Australian homes and businesses, open access arrangements for the new network and the implications of the new network for consumers. What had they been doing for 11½ years? We know. You have not been doing anything. We know you have not had a clue about broadband and the potential revolution that it can unleash. The opposition should be keenly aware that as a result of their inaction Australia is currently lagging behind many international benchmark countries in broadband deployment. Rather than sitting on our hands, Labor in opposition developed a broadband policy that would overcome our geographic challenges. As opposed to the opposition at the moment, which do not understand the issues, believe their own press releases even when they get them wrong, the government’s broadband policy will ensure that all Australians, including people living in less populated parts of the country, can take part in the digital economy.

Does the opposition really doubt that a national broadband network will be good for consumers?