Page 88 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 9 February 2016
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Finally, we know that as the community in both Belconnen and Tuggeranong are ageing, the internet will help them stay connected in their homes. There is a misconception that older people have not engaged online, but these numbers are increasing. They are on Facebook, connecting with kids and grandkids around Canberra, Australia and the world. They are pursuing a diversity of hobbies that 10Â years ago we could not have imagined and they are accessing internet shopping and delivery that makes them less reliant on others.
As other members have spoken about today, the internet is bringing economic and educational benefits to our community. It is also bringing connection and inclusion to people who can sometimes be left out through circumstance and geography. To be real and to be fair, this inclusion cannot be patchy. It cannot come to some and not to others, or to one suburb but not the next.
Currently, we are stuck in a stalemate that has been caused by this federal government, with no plans to finish the NBN, and no action on upgrading our existing networks. I did LOL quietly to myself when Mr Doszpot was talking about the federal government currently considering broadband delivery as a priority when clearly it is not because, if it were a priority, we would not be having this conversation about west Belconnen or Tuggeranong today. This government believe that all Canberrans deserve a quality internet connection that delivers them the same opportunities, and I appreciate the opportunity to call on them to deliver.
If Mr Wall is fair dinkum about taking it up to the federal government, I would be absolutely happy to take him up on that offer and jointly, together, lobby the federal government to put Canberra on the radar when it comes to NBN access, so that every Canberran can be connected in the way that we know is important to them, creates better inclusion and a better and stronger community for everybody who lives here in the ACT.
Discussion concluded.
Planning, Building and Environment Legislation Amendment Bill 2015 (No 2)
Detail stage
Debate resumed.
Clause 1 agreed to.
Remainder of bill, by leave, taken as a whole.
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella—Minister for Planning and Land Management, Minister for Racing and Gaming and Minister for Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations) (4.32), by leave: I move amendments Nos 1 and 2 circulated in my name together [see schedule 2 at page 100]. I table a supplementary explanatory statement to the amendments.
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