Jordon Steele-John (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I, and also on behalf of Senator Urquhart, move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

  (i) on 16 May 2011, a United Nations Special Rapporteur report declared that Internet access is a human right and recommended that "each State should thus develop a concrete and effective policy, in consultation with individuals from all sections of society, including the private sector and relevant Government ministries, to make the Internet widely available, accessible and affordable to all segments of population",

  (ii) on 27 September 2017, the Joint Standing Committee on the National Broadband Network released its first report with 23 recommendations, based on 191 submissions, 15 public hearings, and testimony from 179 witnesses, and

  (iii) on 16 January 2018, the Government released its response to the report of the Joint Standing Committee on the National Broadband Network, in which it rejected 9 of the recommendations and supported the remaining 14 recommendations in principle only; and

(b) calls on the Government to:

  (i) reconsider its response to the first report of the Joint Standing Committee on the National Broadband Network, which proposes concrete and effective policy, developed in consultation with individuals from all sections of society, including the private sector and relevant Government ministries, and

  (ii) work towards developing a national broadband network that is fast, reliable and future-proof, which will make the Internet widely available, accessible and affordable to all segments of the population in Australia.

James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The coalition government has committed to completing the NBN and ensuring that every Australian home and business has access to fast broadband as soon as possible at affordable prices and at least cost to taxpayers. The government's statement of expectations to NBN is explicit in requiring that all premises in Australia will have access to fast broadband of at least 25 megabits per second and 50 megabits per second for 90 per cent of the fixed line network. The coalition government has put the NBN on track for completion by 2020. In 2013, there were up to 1.6 million premises throughout Australia which had poor or no fixed broadband connectivity. Today more than 6.2 million premises can access an NBN service.

Question agreed to.