Christopher Back (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Communications and Minister for the Arts, Senator Fifield. Will the minister inform the Senate how the coalition government is delivering the NBN sooner and more cost-effectively for Australian taxpayers?

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

I thank Senator Back for his question and for his great interest in communications, particularly in regional areas. As my colleagues on this side know, the NBN is being rolled out sooner and at less cost to the taxpayer than would have been the case if those opposite were still in office. Also, as I think colleagues on this side are well aware, we are adopting a technology-agnostic approach to the NBN, rather than a theological approach as was the case with Senator Conroy.

There is good news: the half-yearly results released earlier this month reveal that the rollout of the NBN is accelerating, with 1.7 million homes and businesses now able to order a connection. Isn't that good news? The rollout under those opposite was painfully slow: a miserly 51,000 users were connected to the fixed network by the time of the 2013 election. Results today show that the total number of connected premises was 780,000 as at the end of January. Financially, the company met or exceeded its targets, with revenue from the six months to 31 December 2015 more than double when compared with revenue from the corresponding previous period. This is in contrast to Labor's rollout, where the NBN failed to meet each and every rollout target that had been set. I was very pleased to see in the financial results that initial customer research showed that the levels of satisfaction with broadband services delivered using fibre to the node are exactly the same as those using fibre to the premises. I should take this opportunity to congratulate the management team of the NBN, who are getting the NBN out to Australians sooner and at less cost.

Christopher Back (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. I congratulate the minister on those statistics and ask, can he inform the Senate how the NBN is supporting Australian innovation by connecting more people to the National Broadband Network more quickly?

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

The NBN is obviously important to assist Australian individuals and businesses to seize the opportunities of the digital age. We know that the NBN proved to be ridiculously slow and costly under those opposite. This is the largest and most complex infrastructure project ever undertaken in Australia. Australians want it; they need it; and they cannot afford to wait another decade, as would be the case if those opposite were on this side of the chamber. The social and economic benefits of the NBN will be realised as a result of Australians accessing the NBN sooner. The economic benefits of the NBN cannot accrue if the NBN is only available to a few people, as would be the case if those opposite were still in the saddle.

Christopher Back (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Will the minister outline to the Senate how many more households and businesses are being connected to high-speed broadband each week and whether there are any threats to this progress?

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

It took three full years, from July 2010 until June 2013, for the NBN to cover just 100,000 premises. In fibre-to-the-node areas this milestone was achieved in just four months. Similarly, it took Labor's NBN rollout two years and seven months to get 10,000 users connected, from July 2010 to February 2013. Under our faster fibre-to-the-node rollout it has taken just four months. I think these numbers speak for themselves. Under Labor, their rollout fundamentally consisted of pins on coloured maps. There were a lot of very pretty maps on websites; the only problem was that they bore absolutely no relation to reality when it came to the progress of the rollout. Indeed, it has been said unkindly that FTTP under Labor stood for 'fibre to the press release'.