Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to draw to the attention of the chamber the leading role that Tasmania is playing in the rollout of the National Broadband Network and progressing the digital revolution in Australia.

Back in April the Prime Minister, the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Conroy, and the Tasmanian Premier, David Bartlett, announced that Tasmania would be the launch state for the national broadband rollout. On 25 July the Prime Minister joined the Premier, along with the federal minister and local federal and state MPs, on Hobart’s Eastern Shore to officially lay the first cable. Making the announcement at the official launch with Senator Conroy, the Prime Minister said:

This is a good day. It is about what we are going to do for Australia; it is about what we are going to do for Tasmania and what we are going to do together.

It was indeed a good day. The following day the Premier, David Bartlett, used the Tasmanian Labor Party state conference to outline his vision to make Tasmania the most connected place on the planet by 2014. The Premier is not alone in his vision, and the rollout of the National Broadband Network in Tasmania’s rural and regional towns is the very first step toward making the vision a practical reality. Indeed, for Tasmanians the revolution has already commenced. Within the next year, around 5,000 households in Smithton, in Mr Sidebottom’s electorate of Braddon, Scottsdale, in Ms Campbell’s electorate of Bass, and Midway Point, in Mr Adams’s electorate of Lyons, will be granted access to the super-fast broadband network.

And that is only the beginning. In the space of a few short years, over 200,000 Tasmanian households and businesses, each of the state’s hospitals and almost 90 per cent of schools will be connected to the network, which will deliver broadband 50 times faster than currently available, at speeds of 100 megabits per second. In the not so distant future, the state’s rural towns and network of thriving regional communities will have at their fingertips technology that will revolutionise the way they interact with each other as well as with the rest of the world. For the first time, the nation’s island state will be granted the opportunity to overcome its revered isolation, which has at times been viewed as a barrier. The rollout of the National Broadband Network will remove this barrier and, in a few short years, will open the nation’s smallest state to possibilities it never imagined.

Over the past five years, Tasmania has attracted an increasing number of tourists from interstate and overseas. Ironically, they are keen to experience those delights that stem from its very isolation—its rugged and remote natural wonders, its world renowned, top-quality fresh produce and its constantly evolving and unique eye for detail when it comes to creative design and innovation. Indeed, as such, Tasmania has attracted renewed interest in investment, which has remained despite the recent economic downturn. However, the lack of infrastructure such as high-speed broadband, which is essential for business portability, has undoubtedly in some cases created a reluctance to invest. In recent times, there has been an explosion of small business activity by Tasmanian companies eager to build on the state’s increased niche marketing creditability. However, thanks to the complete failure by the previous government to invest in essential broadband infrastructure, Tasmanian based businesses have been forced to endure the natural barriers that arise as a result of their isolation. Granting such businesses access to high-speed broadband will revolutionise the Tasmanian economy by opening up the state to the rest of the world. With continued investment, it will drive innovation and productivity in our economy.

As part of his state conference address the Premier also outlined his vision for Tasmania to become the intellectual hub for renewable energy in the Asia-Pacific Region—a prospect that is now possible with the national broadband rollout. Along with increased investment naturally comes the opportunity to support and create local jobs. The Premier has said that the initial rollout of the National Broadband Network will support hundreds of Tasmanian jobs over the next couple of years. What is more, the rollout process has and will continue to engage Tasmanian based companies, ensuring return investment in the state.

Beyond the initial rollout, the network will lay the foundations for the creation of potentially thousands of new jobs in new as well as existing industries such as IT, energy generation, agriculture and, of course, tourism. By eliminating the previous limitations of distance, the rollout has the potential to open up Tasmania to the rest of the world, as well as opening up the world to Tasmanians. Small Tasmanian businesses and home based entrepreneurs will have access to an unlimited customer base, while interstate and overseas tourists will have the means to purchase those ‘gems’ they pick up on their travels around the state. Local producers will be granted the means to better network and share ideas without the restrictions of time or space.

Apart from the obvious benefits of increasing productivity, innovation and supporting local jobs, the rollout of broadband in Tasmania will also have significant benefits in terms of the delivery of essential health and social services. As many of you may well be aware, Tasmania, as with many other rural and remote areas, has traditionally experienced a number of challenges in the delivery of essential services. For people living in rural and remote communities, accessing basic health, education and even care based services can be difficult.

The rollout of broadband in Tasmania has the potential to eliminate many of these challenges. The possibilities in terms of e-health are very exciting. With parallel advances in medical technology we are already seeing the benefits of fast and effective delivery of remote health services. Many Tasmanian patients are enjoying the benefits of being able to consult their medical practitioners via teleconference rather than having to make a three- to four-hour road trip. However, the broadband rollout to households around the state promises to revolutionise the way we deliver health services in the state. In a few short years, the potential will exist to monitor and manage the health and wellbeing of patients in their own homes. Elsewhere, technology has been developed and used enabling a patient at risk of having a heart attack to wear a device that monitors their condition, and an ambulance can be automatically dialled at the first sign that they may be experiencing cardiac arrest. In a state that experiences high rates of heart and kidney disease, such advances offer a great benefit.

Importantly, the use of such technologies also offers great hope to a state with a rapidly ageing population—one that is struggling to develop a cost-effective model for the provision of aged care. By allowing the opportunity for remote monitoring, the broadband rollout may assist many older Tasmanians to stay safety in their own homes for longer.

Complementing the rollout of the broadband network in Tasmania, the Premier, who is also the Tasmanian minister for education, has set an ambitious target to significantly improve the literacy and numeracy levels in Tasmanian schools. With Tasmanian students set to have access to the network both at home and at school there exists the real potential to improve literacy and numeracy in schools across the state. The needs of particular students may be better catered for by facilitating the sharing and networking of specific learning materials. The potential also exists for parents to be better engaged at home in helping children with their learning programs.

All in all, the rollout in Tasmania of the National Broadband Network, which commenced in July this year, heralds a new era for our state. Its potential to revolutionise our small island state cannot be overstated. It promises to support local businesses, attract investment, create new jobs, improve access to health services and transform the way we care for both our old and our young.

Coinciding with the announcement in July, the Premier has set a clear target to make Tasmania the most connected place on the planet in five short years. With the whole nation watching, and indeed the world, this is an exciting time for our state, which at previous points in history has been forced to lag behind. The rollout of the broadband network promises to see Tasmania take the lead.

Through a shared vision, the federal and state Labor governments have set our state on a clear path—one full of promise. After 11 long years of inaction by the previous government in this area, the rollout of the broadband network in Tasmania will come as a welcome relief for thousands of Tasmanian businesses and families who for far too long have been forced to put up with subordinate infrastructure, while many more have simply not been able to access services at all.

However, despite the overwhelming benefits this advancement will bring to Tasmania, Liberal Senator Guy Barnett continues to criticise the Tasmanian broadband rollout at any chance he gets. After initially welcoming the news on the 30 April this year that Tasmania would become the first state to access the network, Senator Barnett has repeatedly attempted to publicly criticise and undermine the obvious benefits of the rollout. Now, when we have the state and federal Labor governments working together to see Tasmania become the leader in the rollout of this essential 21st century infrastructure, he has suddenly found a voice. While the federal and state governments are focusing on the practical realities of delivering the network to Tasmanian towns and cities, Senator Barnett is hell-bent on undermining the broadband rollout. (Time expired)