Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and Urban Water) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you for that protection. I know why they do not want to hear what I am saying. It is because they know that what I am saying is true. The Australian public want national broadband, and they do not want it in 20, 30 or 40 years time, which your program would take; they want it now.

They made it very clear in Tasmania at the last election that they want national broadband and they want it now. Tasmania was lucky; that is where the program started. I imagine that lots of other places in Australia would have wanted it. Western Australia would have liked it but Tasmanians were the lucky ones. They got it first and we know how much they appreciate it. We know from the results of the election down there that Tasmanians very strongly endorsed our national broadband program. I have talked about how they supported it in Willunga. Willunga is just one small section of beautiful South Australia, but Tasmanians have had the benefit of being the first group to receive it.

Ninety-three per cent of Australians are getting this national broadband system. It is optical fibre, and it is going to deliver one gigabyte per second. What that means is that it is going to be 1,000 times faster than what ordinarily occurs at the moment. So it is going to be a dramatically faster system, and it is going to be delivered by the NBN. Of course, the NBN is a national wholesale communications network. It is the first time we have had such a network, and it is going to provide genuine competition. This is something that the opposition really ought to be interested in. They are always talking about competition; the Labor Party is delivering it. It is delivering fast broadband and it is delivering it through a wholesale company, and it is delivering it in a way that provides extra competition.

I have talked about Willunga. There are many other parts of South Australia that are ultimately going to receive it. The two areas that will be next on the list are Seaford and McLaren Vale. After that, there will be some rollout in Modbury and Prospect. I know, from talking with local members of parliament in South Australia, how much they are supporting it and how much their constituents want it. It is going to be important for the future of education and for small businesses. The Liberals and the Nationals used to claim that they supported small business. Small business is right behind the national broadband system. They have made it very clear to us that they do not want to stay in the digital stone age. They are supporting it. Even businesses in Jamestown, I bet you, are supporting a move to the digital future, because they know—(Time expired)