Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

When we were last debating this legislation, I was reflecting on the fact that Australia has the most expensive broadband of all OECD countries and that we should be seeking to improve affordability of broadband access in this country rather than reducing it and that's particularly relevant now given that we've got a large number of people working from home and we've got a lot of people who have lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic that we're all currently living through. Ultimately, one thing I hope will become apparent to more people in this place as a result of the pandemic and associated restrictions that are currently in place is that broadband should be regarded as an essential public service in this country. It's absolutely an essential utility and the quicker the government can come to grips with that concept, the more connected we'll become as a country and the better and more affordable broadband services will be. The Australian Greens believe that, rather than the way forward proposed in this legislation, the most equitable option for funding these matters would be a broad based funding pool, directly funded through the Commonwealth budget. I want to place on the record that that's been acknowledged by both the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission as well as the Productivity Commission.

I spoke about broadband affordability but I also want to speak very briefly about broadband speed in Australia. We are currently ranked 68th in the world for average broadband speed. That is simply not good enough for a rich country like Australia. It is in large part a result of the decision by the LNP government under former Prime Minister Turnbull, when we had former Senator Fifield as our communications minister, to cruel the broadband plan that had been conceived and put in place and was beginning to be rolled out by the Australian Labor Party. We need to make sure that we've got more-affordable broadband in Australia and we need to make sure that we've got faster connectivity in this country.

Acting Deputy President Askew, I would ask that at the end of this debate the question on the second reading of the bills be divided. The Australian Greens support one of the bills but not the other, and we'd welcome the opportunity to vote on that basis.