Page 3375 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 23 September 2015
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Attendees at my forum spoke of their frustration with the companies rolling out the infrastructure. Three residents of Dunlop in Belconnen spoke of their inability to even access ADSL through their existing copper network. And some residents of Casey expressed frustration that they were yet to be told when they could expect to be connected—when their neighbours just across the road are able to access the full benefits of the NBN.
That is why this motion today is so important. Broadband is considered by Labor to be an essential utility—like water or electricity. Labor’s national broadband network was designed to ensure high speed, reliable and affordable broadband and was available to every home in Australia so that everyone could be online at the same time, with no glitches or dropouts. It was great to see Canberra made one of the 19 designated early rollout sites, and I pay tribute here to our former senator, Kate Lundy. The initial rollout by NBN in Gungahlin under the former federal Labor government was one of the smoothest in Australia, and the take-up rates were amongst the highest across the country.
Australians generally are great early adapters to new technology, and I believe Canberrans love any new way to communicate and connect. Many of Canberra’s housing developers understood the value of the NBN for their developments, and the NBN rollout in greenfield sites across Canberra has been amongst the most successful in the country.
In addition, the initial rollout was supported by active program engagement from both the federal and ACT governments. The former Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, in partnership with the ACT government, supported delivery of a range of training and awareness-raising programs for businesses and households to help them grasp what the NBN fibre rollout meant and how they would be able to take advantage of this new, advanced network.
Many of the benefits of ubiquitous high speed broadband are with us now; others are only limited by our imagination. Some of the most common reasons for connecting to the NBN can include the need to study—perhaps live-streaming classes and lectures; running a small business from home; accessing the incredibly popular streaming processes like Netflix and Stan; and using cloud storage.
The NBN gives households multiple connections all at once so that an entire family can connect on multiple devices with high speed, quality connectivity; more efficient online shopping and banking; better quality videoconferencing and allowing people to communicate quickly and easily; access to home-based education and tutorials; and the ability to work from home—a fast and reliable internet connection allows genuine opportunity for people to work from home when they have access to broadband connections that equal the quality in their workplace.
Small business is of course a big winner when it comes to super-fast broadband. High speed broadband means our small business sector can access new markets and new opportunities. It can improve the online experience for customers, remove geographic barriers and increase access to market opportunities. It means more flexible working
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