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

I thank Senator Bilyk for her ongoing interest in the NBN. I visited Tasmania last week to announce that fibre services are now available to Deloraine, Triabunna, Sorrell and Kingston Beach and that George Town and St Helens are coming online within weeks. They join Scottsdale and Smithton and Midway Point—which was the first to be connected to the National Broadband Network. That means that almost 13,000 premises in these nine communities can access fast, affordable and reliable broadband over fibre. I also announced that 32,000 premises in 28 areas across Tasmania should have access to the NBN's fixed wireless network from mid-2013. There are 530 Tasmanian homes and businesses that are already connected to the NBN interim satellite service. Tasmanians can access the NBN at the same wholesale price as people in Melbourne or Sydney.

Last week I met with Lou Barrett, who runs the IGA Supermarket in Scottsdale with her partner Dale. Lou said this to me:

The speed and reliability that we get from our connection to the NBN means that we have been able to take advantage of a range of new applications and content that have helped us streamline our business practices. This has helped us improve our service to our loyal and valued customer base in Scottsdale.

The Gillard government is getting on with delivering the National Broadband Network. (Time expired)