Page 82 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 9 February 2016
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town centres using laptops connected to CBRfree. CBRfree is already available in Canberra city, Dickson, Belconnen and Manuka. It will be available in Kingston shortly, in Tuggeranong and Bruce by the end of April, in Woden by the end of June, and in Weston Creek and Gungahlin shortly after that.
Canberra is a city that looks to the future. We embrace new technology, and we can thrive in a world dependent on digital technology if we can get access to the internet services we need. As the new Turnbull government ramps up its language around being a 21st century government, I call on the federal government to commit to a clear and comprehensive NBN rollout that avoids duplication and delivers on priority business and household needs for Canberra.
MR DOSZPOT (Molonglo) (4.09): I thank Ms Porter for bringing on this matter of public importance, the importance of high quality internet services in the territory. As usual when we touch upon this topic we hear the rhetoric—and the government is very good at the rhetoric—on what their digital contribution is to Canberra, but unfortunately that is where the good part of it stops. The rhetoric is good; the actual delivery is less than good.
The opposition considers the provision of high quality internet services in Canberra to be of utmost importance as the use of the digital space continues to expand and evolve across the country. It is important that the nation’s capital is leading the way in the construction and provision of high quality communication technologies, including the provision of high speed internet access.
The importance of delivering high quality internet services to Canberra and the nation is also a key priority of our federal counterparts. The rollout of the national broadband network will provide endless possibility for the education sector, the disability sector, the health sector, the commercial community, and quite a number of specialised areas where high speed broadband can enhance business opportunities. Importantly, under this federal government’s rollout of the NBN, there is potential for further ICT job growth in the ACT and surrounds as well as supporting educational opportunities for all Canberrans.
The coalition’s plan is ensuring that the NBN rollout is faster and cheaper, resulting in much lower prices for consumers. The rollout is expected to be completed by 2019 and will cost tens of billions of dollars less than Labor’s original NBN plan.
Under Kevin Rudd, Labor promised fast broadband for all Australians by 2013 at a cost of $4.7 billion and after more than five years of federal Labor government there was little progress in this area. There was little progress and there was little said by this government during the term of the Rudd Labor government or the other Labor government that followed it. They had very little to say about the lack of progress.
But since the coalition has come to power there has been a lot of increase, and I question Ms Porter’s figures on the fact that there has been no activity in Canberra. We will come to that later. Since the coalition were elected, they have focused on creating and rolling out an NBN plan that all Australian households and businesses can reap the benefits from. Under the coalition’s plan to transform NBN we will see
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