Claire Moore (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Conroy. Can the minister provide an update to the Senate on research into the opportunities of our digital economy, and research into the broadband capacity we need to realise these opportunities?

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

I thank the senator for her question and her interest in the future of Australia's economy. The Gillard government recognises that today our economy is already a digital economy, and the pace of change continues to increase. The need for high-speed broadband has been demonstrated in Cisco's latest forecasts, which stated that 'internet traffic will grow in Australia sevenfold from 2011 to 2016'. That is a compound annual growth rate of 49 per cent. In Australia the average broadband speed will quadruple in the next five years from eight megabits to 36 megabits. An analysis by Ericsson released last year showed that doubling an economy's broadband speed increases GDP by 0.3 per cent. A report released last week by IBM identified the growth that will be fuelled by high-speed broadband and the industries like mining, education and retail that will gain the most.

Mr Turnbull has previously championed President Obama's broadband plans—as the Americans were the inventors of the internet, he told us. I am sure Mr Turnbull has kept his colleagues informed that the President has this week committed the US to the need for a national network, supporting one-gigabit connection—one gigabit. This is what President Obama had to say:

Building a nationwide broadband network will strengthen our economy and put more Americans back to work ... By connecting every corner of our country to the digital age, we can help our businesses become more competitive, our students become more informed and our citizens become more engaged.

What we have seen is Malcolm Turnbull champion New Zealand— (Time expired)

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! I remind senators to refer to people in the other place by their correct titles.

Claire Moore (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Can the minister outline to the Senate what the Australian government is doing to realise these opportunities?

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

(—) (): The trends are clear. The economic benefits are undeniable. Australia must invest in a broadband future or we will be left behind. That is why this government is investing in the National Broadband Network: to deliver one gigabit networks to 93 per cent of premises in Australia. The joint committee on the NBN unanimously told the government that it should do more to communicate about the NBN and the government's policy. We have taken that advice on board. One of those initiatives is the NBN truck, which is making its way around the country. This week, it is in Canberra. It is just down the road behind Old Parliament House. I encourage all those knuckle draggers over there to go down to the truck and get an education. Maybe then you will not have people like Mr Hockey making idiotic comments, such as the one that he made last week about 4G having more capacity than the National Broadband Network. (Time expired)

Claire Moore (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Is the minister aware of any alternative policies in this area?

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

Unfortunately, I am aware of many. We have a confusion of alternative policies. In August 2010, Mr Turnbull said that he could do everything that he needed to do with a 3.5 megabit connection. Then in October 2010 he claimed that a 12 megabit connection to the home would be enough for everybody. Then in May this year he asserted that residential premises have no need for anything more than 25 megabits. Then last week, as I have just mentioned, Mr Hockey said that 4G mobile has the capacity to be far superior to the National Broadband Network. In August of last year, the National Party emerged from under their rock to announce their policy of placing a priority on rolling out fibre optic cable to a majority of consumers in regional Australia. (Time expired)