The Failed NBN Rollout

15 August 2017

Everywhere I go throughout the Oxley electorate, the No. 1 issued raised with me is

the failed NBN rollout. At mobile offices, school events and community meetings, I hear stories from residents

reporting connection dropouts, slow speeds or simply no access at all. Everyday people tell me how fed-up and

frustrated they are with this Prime Minister's second-rate NBN. Let's be clear: the rollout of the NBN has now

reached crisis point for many local homes and businesses. This culminated last month in community demand

leading to the first NBN crisis meeting in Springfield, where we were joined by the member for Greenway and

shadow minister for communications.

Over 100 residents attended the meeting to voice their concerns and frustrations with the failed NBN rollout.

We heard stories like that of Alastair, who, after being promised an NBN connection on 3 June this year, is now

told he has to wait six months, until January next year, for a connection. In his letter to me, Alastair says, 'I need

the internet for my work as I mostly work from home for an IT company, and being down six months is just

unacceptable. This is impacting my finances and could potentially lead to issues with my employer.'

This is simply unacceptable, but these are the real stories of people who are being devastated by the failed NBN

rollout. It's stories like these that led me to write to the Prime Minister and the Minister for Communications,

seeking an urgent meeting to find a resolution to this mess. But rather than facing the problem, this Prime Minister

didn't want to hear Alastair's story; he instead declined the meeting and passed the buck to an NBN community

relations adviser. Typical of this government—bury your head in the sand and hope it goes away. Local residents

have been loud and clear in their frustrations dealing with the NBN.

I've also been contacted by local businesses who are desperately hurting because of this Prime Minister and his

incompetence, businesses like Tradecorp in Sumner Park. After being promised the NBN would be ready for

their new building back in April, they still have no access to broadband. As a result, they've had to lay off two

staff because they simply couldn't do the same level of business without the internet. They've had to resort to

using a wireless modem, and they say they may be forced to close down if a resolution cannot be found.

Since the first NBN crisis meeting in Springfield, my office has received an influx of calls and contacts from

residents in the centenary suburbs, asking to have their voices heard as well. I've called a second NBN crisis

meeting for later this month, where I will be joined by the member for Throsby and shadow minister for regional

services, to hear firsthand about their problems. I can inform the House that, as of this morning, over 100 local

residents have already registered for this important event. If they can't make it, I'm asking residents to send me

their speeds. Having a quality and reliable broadband connection is not just about watching Netflix; it's about

businesses being able to operate and serve their customers. I call on the Prime Minister and the Minister for

Communications to address these issues as quickly as possible.