Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

As I have shared with colleagues before, the coalition is not taking a theological approach to the NBN, as was the case under the former Senator Conroy. We are taking a technology-agnostic approach, which means the mandate for the NBN is that it can use the technology that makes sense in a given area and can see the NBN rolled out fastest and at lowest cost. The great news is that, as a result of that approach, NBN is now available to 3.2 million premises nationwide—that is more than a quarter of the population. By the middle of next year, the NBN will be available to 50 per cent of Australian premises. By the middle of the year after that, it will be available to 75 per cent of Australian premises. By 2020, it will be available to all Australian premises. The NBN will be completed six to eight years sooner than would have been the case under our predecessors and at a cost of $30 billion less. We want to see Australians get the NBN, and get it soon—and, under us, they will.