New plans to deliver high-speed NBN across the Hawkesbury will be a welcome relief to businesses and residents struggling with fragile, slow connections, Federal Member for Macquarie, Susan Templeman, says.
“There’s thousands of people living in areas including McGraths Hill, Mulgrave, Vineyard, parts of Pitt Town, Kurrajong Heights, Windsor Downs and Wilberforce who are on Fibre to the Node (FTTN), and our plan will give them the opportunity to upgrade to optical fibre,” Ms Templeman said.
“That means faster speeds and more stable communication in an area so prone to natural disasters like floods and bushfires”.
Labor has announced that, if it wins the next election, it will expand full-fibre NBN access to 1.5 million premises across Australia, giving 90 per cent of Australians in the fixed line footprint — more than 10 million premises — access to gigabit download speeds (1,000mbps) by 2025.
“Some businesses on FTTN in the Hawkesbury and Blue Mountains currently can’t even get the government-mandated download speeds of 25mbps,” Ms Templeman said.
“Some who have abandoned the NBN altogether for Elon Musk’s Starlink service that I’ve seen in the local area are getting between 250 to 270mbps.
“The FTTN system sees optical fibre run from the exchange to a node, which then connects copper to people’s homes and businesses hundreds of metres away. Copper shouldn’t be in our network anywhere; it’s 19th Century technology.
“Reliable, quality, high-speed internet isn’t a luxury. It’s not something that’s nice to have for gamers. It’s essential 21st Century infrastructure that local business, people working from home, and students need.”
Ms Templeman welcomed Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese and Shadow Communications Minister Michelle Rowland to the electorate on Friday, November 19 to discuss the issue, meeting with three locals whose businesses were being affected by fragile or non-existent FTTN connection.
Mr Albanese said Australia - a G20 nation – was running 59th in the world when it comes to our broadband speeds.
“That means in an era of globalisation, we're falling behind the rest of the world,” he said.
“The truth is we need to do much better, and that's why we'll connect an additional 1.5 million homes and why we will contribute an additional $2.4 billion to make sure homes and businesses can have access to high-speed broadband.
“The idea that the Government has purchased, with taxpayer funds, enough copper wire to go around the earth one and a half times in the 21st Century is just absurd.”
Ms Rowland said the small businesses and individuals they met with epitomised the reasons why more Australians need access to the highest quality broadband.
“This plan is part of a very important repair job, enabling access to fibre to up to 1.5 million additional premises across Australia,” Ms Rowland said.
“This is important too as we come out of the pandemic, where so much has changed. It's important that no matter where you live in Australia, you have a quality of access to the highest broadband available, the best speeds, the best quality.
“The advocacy that Susan Templeman, as the local member, has shown on the issue, really does need to be applauded.”
About 18,000 premises from Lawson to Mount Victoria in the Blue Mountains are on FTTN, as well as thousands of people living in the Hawkesbury.
“Labor’s plan will give these residents and businesses the opportunity to upgrade to optical fibre, providing more stable communication,” Ms Templeman said.
“This is really important in our area, which is so prone to natural disasters like floods and bushfires.
“Large areas of McGraths Hill was underwater in the last floods. They need a reliable technology that's not going to stop when there's really hot weather, when there's storms or when there's floods.
“I ran my own business for nearly 25 years, and I know how important it is for our local economy to thrive. It's about being ready for when those natural disasters hit so that people can stay connected. And that could be life or death.
“Labor will stop the NBN being a joke for people on FTTN, and make it what we intended it to be; a tool that facilitates high-speed 21st Century communication.”
