Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Birmingham for his ongoing interests. As I stated yesterday:

At Senate estimates in February, NBN Co. CEO Mike Quigley informed the committee of the initial deployment challenges being … experienced by NBN Co.'s contractors.

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In particular, Mr Quigley highlighted that workforce mobilisation issues were being faced … by Syntheo in Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory.

We are determined to overcome these challenges with workforce mobilisation. NBN Co. is already taking measures. Today Service Stream announced that Syntheo has reached agreement with the NBN Co. to hand back the remainder of its design and construction activities in the Northern Territory. This will enable NBN Co. to take direct control of the rollout in the Northern Territory, allowing Syntheo to concentrate its resources on the rollout in Western Australia and South Australia to bring high-speed broadband to Australians in these states sooner. By June 2021 all Australians will have access to high-speed, universal, affordable broadband.