Guy Barnett (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the document.

I particularly wish to highlight the issue of the telecommunications industry in Tasmania and the importance of ensuring that competition remains and that the safeguards remain with respect to broadband services, in particular in the state of Tasmania. There is a very great fear in Tasmania that the internet service providers that are currently there may not have a level playing field following the implementation of the rollout of the National Broadband Network, a rollout that is expected to start in just a few weeks. It was announced in April that the start date would be July, so we are talking about less than two weeks now until the rollout of the National Broadband Network in Tasmania. I have received feedback, and I am concerned that our local councils are being sidelined, whether it is on the planning issues or other issues. I would like to know whether the government will be consulting local councils or not. In fact, I will be writing to the Tasmanian local councils alerting them to the federal and state governments’ rollout of this broadband network, which is expected to start, as I say, in a couple of weeks time.

One of the key questions will be how much of the Tasmanian broadband rollout will use cables strung from power poles and how much will be underground. The broadband cables are 50 per cent thicker, it is said, than those used for cable TV, which could add significant pressure to existing infrastructure and make the rollout an eyesore. Councils need to be involved in decisions that will affect their municipalities. Senator Minchin raised these issues and put a question to Senator Conroy during question time. In fact, he made a statement this afternoon—and I commend Senator Minchin for highlighting such important issues—regarding the cables that are, as he puts it in his headline, ‘coming to a street near you’. He says that Optus believes that the National Broadband Network would cost $60 billion if cables were deployed underground or $33 billion if 70 per cent of the cabling was deployed underground. So there you are.

There are many other questions regarding the rollout of the broadband network in Tasmania. Certainly councils are being kept in the dark. They have not been informed and they do not know what is happening. The people in the councils—the councillors, aldermen and mayors—to whom I have spoken have not heard a thing. And this is all starting in a couple of weeks time. So what are the issues in terms of planning and what is going to happen? Who will be receiving the improved services and when will these services be available? This is the big question. Mr Aird, the Treasurer in Tasmania, said just recently that households will not be able to not afford it. Goodness me! Is he going to impose a levy on homeowners and families, saying, ‘You must have this broadband service’ and saying what the cost will be? That is absolutely ridiculous. Will the government impose a levy or will they not? We know what the average family currently pays: $50, $40 or $30 per month or less. But we do not know what it is going to cost. The industry experts say that it will cost about $100 a month at minimum, and that it is $200 per month or more that will likely be needed to make the government’s rollout viable. These are some of the key questions that have not been answered.

It has been reported that the estimated cost of the rollout in Tasmania is in excess of $700 million, yet we do not know exactly how much the state will be paying and how much the federal government will be paying. In last week’s state budget in Tasmania it was said that the project was yet to be finalised. There has been an initial allocation of over $10 million but we do not know the exact amounts in the months and years ahead. We in Tasmania certainly welcome the rollout. Tasmania is very much behind the times in comparison with the rest of the country and we have been disadvantaged with low-speed internet speed for too long. But the concern is what will be in the detail. The lack of detail is a big concern for the local community and we need to know. If this is going to be happening in a few weeks time, how will it impact the local community? Telecommunications competitive safeguards are very important. But what rights and what safeguards will the current ISPs have with respect to the rollout and their access to it? These are questions that need answering.

Question agreed to.