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

There are many studies that confirm that investment in high-speed fibre generates billions of dollars in economy-wide benefits. A 2009 Access Economics study found an increase in the net present value of gross domestic product of between $35 billion and $80 billion over 10 years from the benefits of high-speed broadband in the electricity, irrigation, health and transport industries. More recently, two reports identified specific benefits from teleworking and telehealth, emerging applications that both rely on ubiquitous high-speed broadband. Access Economics estimates benefits of telehealth to Australia of between $2 billion and $4 billion a year, and savings of at least $1.4 billion from teleworking, if just 10 per cent of the workforce—(time expired)