Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Canavan. I can inform the Senate that the government is aware that, for rural and regional Australia to harness the benefits of fast broadband, people do need to take up the NBN service. The government knows that, without driving take-up, you do not earn revenue—another revelation for Senator Conroy. Under the coalition, as the NBN Co has ramped up the rollout of fixed-wireless services, we have also seen an increase in the number of subscribers. There were fewer than 3,000 in last September and there are now more than 16½ thousand today. In a little over nine months we have more than quadrupled the number of Australians in rural and regional areas subscribing to an NBN fixed-wireless service. We have always been in favour of an NBN but an NBN that exists in reality, is affordable and is there to deliver to rural and regional Australia.

Senator Lines interjecting—