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

My question is to Senator Coonan, the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. I refer the minister to the comments of Professor Larry Smarr, one of the original architects of the internet, that the state of our broadband infrastructure makes him ‘concerned about Australia’. Is the minister aware that Professor Smarr also stated:

We are in a once-in-30 year transition, and if you are not serious about real broadband you will be gradually left out of more and more of the emerging business opportunities, and challenged for the ones you thought you had.

Isn’t it true that the Howard government’s 11 long years of neglect of the nation’s communications infrastructure has left Australia unprepared for the future challenges it will face in the international economy? Does the minister agree with Professor Smarr’s assessment that only fibre-optic broadband infrastructure will be able to secure the nation’s future prosperity?

Helen Coonan (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am so grateful that Senator Conroy got his question in. The recent comments from Professor Larry Smarr, of the United States, really fascinated me. He said that real broadband is one gigabit per second delivered by fibre to the premises. I do not really think the Labor Party has that in mind, because just the other day Mr Rudd said, in the clearest of terms, that he would chuck $4.7 billion of taxpayers’ money at a 12 megabit per second fibre rollout. Obviously, the Labor Party is going to fall very foul of Professor Larry Smarr, who talks about real broadband as a gigabit per second delivered by fibre to the premises. Of course, this is a very useful discussion point but it certainly does not represent what is happening in comparable countries today. In fact, I was surprised that Senator Conroy, in a recent interview, talked about fibre being rolled out in China and India. In fact, fibre is not being rolled out in China and India in extraordinary amounts, because they are basically deploying wireless technology.

The comparative data which Professor Smarr is quoted as using with regard to Australia appears to be derived from an out-of-date World Economic Forum survey. I went and had a look at this survey because it shows that when you come to other countries and make comments you really should check your data. It related to the data that the Labor Party frequently comments on—from the World Economic Forum. This 2002 survey not only is five years old but relates to international bandwidth data such as undersea communications cables. It has nothing to do with broadband speeds available to consumers.

So I welcome visiting people making comments about broadband. It is a very useful part of the debate. As I have said in great detail and ad nauseam, it is not a matter of whether we should have a high speed broadband network—we can and we will. Much as I am sure Senator Conroy would love to know what the government’s broadband policy is, he is going to have to wait a few days longer.

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It’s just that you can’t deliver it!

Paul Calvert (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Evans, you continually talk while your colleagues are getting to their feet.

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

I have a supplementary question. Can the minister confirm that the Howard government currently supports the rollout of a fibre-to-the-node network in just five major capital cities, leaving the rest of the country to make do with a ‘mix of technologies’? Given the minister’s endorsement of wireless and satellite services, will the minister now commit to connecting her own office, her own home and her own department to the wireless broadband that she intends to deliver to regional and rural Australians as part of the Howard government’s plans? Why doesn’t she put her money where her mouth is and connect her own home and offices?

Helen Coonan (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In response to Senator Conroy’s supplementary question, I say that what this government will not be doing is chucking $5 billion of taxpayers’ money at building a network that the industry will fund itself. You have to ask yourself: if the Labor Party cannot even get its head around building a fibre-to-the-node network without helping itself to $5 billion of taxpayers’ money, how could it possibly manage a trillion-dollar economy?

Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.