Page 4320 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 22 September 2010
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
sites. Fortunately, those who do not understand are in a very small minority. Australians have already voted. As of June 2010, there were 9.6 million internet subscribers in this country. Already, the purposes to which these Australians put their internet connections are increasingly sophisticated. For example, in 2008-09, 64 per cent of adults who accessed the internet used it to make online purchases. On the other end of those transactions are businesses—many of them Australian businesses, many of them Canberra businesses—making a sale, growing their business, supporting their local economy. And the more widespread broadband use becomes, the more our local Canberra businesses will be able to tap into a global marketplace of potential customers.
Almost a third of businesses now take orders via the internet. An economy that wants to be part of this growing trend needs the infrastructure that will allow it to seize its share. The broadband network has the potential to do that for the businesses of Gungahlin. It will also remove the barriers to businesses conducting their affairs from whatever location is most convenient to them. It helps those who choose to work from home, for example. You yourself talked about that earlier, Madam Assistant Speaker Le Couteur. The proportion of businesses with web presence has increased massively over the past decade. Towards the end of 1990, fewer than one in 10 businesses had a web presence. A decade later, it was 42 per cent. And, as mentioned, about a third of businesses do not just have a presence; they actually are trading online.
Broadband creates other opportunities for society and will create other opportunities for Gungahlin. It allows people to stay in touch with their social networks more easily, especially with family and friends who do not live nearby. It is transforming distance education, with entire degrees now being offered in online versions. And it is transforming not-so-distant education too, right across our school system. Already we have rolled out fibre to our primary schools across the city. Even our public libraries offer an online homework help service on school days, after school until 7 pm.
Broadband helps scientists and innovators work in interdisciplinary teams and with colleagues scattered around the globe. Let us remember that this ability for researchers to communicate with each other was the reason the internet was invented in the first place.
High speed broadband also has potential to transform the delivery of health services. In some cases, it may allow patients to remain in their homes while being monitored remotely by their health practitioners. It allows for the speedy sharing of electronic health records, enabling patient data to be transmitted quickly between doctors, specialists and others, allowing each to see what the others are doing before deciding to prescribe a particular remedy or treatment. It has the potential to help practitioners keep abreast of the latest research and epidemiological tracking work in their fields. It enables the use of mobile devices to collect data such as blood pressure readings. As I said, I saw the huge potential for this while in Alice Springs when looking at the future of broadband in Australia.
Broadband also has the potential to transform how governments talk to and respond to their communities. Over the past 12 months, more than 442,000 bills were paid online by Canberrans through Canberra Connect, and 5.4 million visits were recorded on
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video