NBN Crisis

29 June 2017

The NBN rollout for homes and businesses across our community is in crisis.

On Thursday 13 July local Federal Member for Oxley Milton Dick MP will hold a special NBN crisis meeting with Shadow Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland MP and State Labor Candidate for the seat of Jordan Charis Mullen at Springfield Lakes State School hall from 6:30pm.

 The crisis meeting will be held for local residents to voice their concerns about how the Turnbull Government’s failed NBN rollout has affected them.

 At the 2013 election, Malcolm Turnbull promised he would deliver his inferior version of the NBN faster and cheaper with three key commitments:

  • Minimum download speeds of 25 megabits per second to all Australians by the end of 2016. FAIL
  • Delivery of the NBN for $29.5 billion. FAIL
  • A commitment that areas most under-served by existing telecommunications infrastructure would be prioritised in the rollout. FAIL

 Local Federal Member Milton Dick MP said this was simply unacceptable.

 “Every day people tell me how fed up and frustrated they are with Malcolm Turnbull’s second rate NBN” said Mr Dick.

 “My office receives calls every day of people who have connection drop outs, slow speeds or simply no access at all.

 “The rollout of the NBN has now reached crisis point for local homes and businesses who were promised so much more”.

 The latest available information from NBN Co shows that as of November 2016 less than half the homes in Oxley have an available NBN connection.

 This is a far cry from Malcolm Turnbull’s promise that all Australians would have access by the end of 2016.

 Some residents including those in Camira have no scheduled construction date or face wait times of up to a further three years for construction to be complete in 2020.

 Shadow Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland MP said it was all too common to hear about people experiencing problems with the NBN.

 “‘Right across the country we are seeing local residents facing poor service under Malcolm Turnbull’s NBN mess, both during installation and after connecting to the NBN.”

 Whilst Australians were promised superfast broadband speeds, the reality is that The Turnbull Government has only delivered average connection speeds of just 11.1Mbps to-date.

That dismal result means Australia has the embarrassing global rank of 50th for internet speeds behind key trading partners South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, the United States and New Zealand.

State Labor Candidate for the seat of Jordan Charis Mullen said it was one of the top issues raised by residents throughout the community.

“The failed rollout of the NBN in Springfield has now reached a crisis point” said Mrs Mullen.

“It is absolutely critical that homes and businesses have access to a reliable NBN connection but this just simply isn’t possible for many.

“This is not just about watching Netflix, it is about school students and businesses who depend on a reliable internet connection”.

The latest Akamai State of the Internet Report is a damning indictment on the Turnbull’s mismanagement of the NBN – with Australia’s 2.1 million small businesses enduring amongst the poorest average internet speeds in the developed world.

Further to this, Australia’s NBN rollout has become an international embarrassment.

A New York Times article on 11 May stated that “The internet modernisation plan has been hobbled by cost overruns, partisan manoeuvring and a major technical compromise that put 19th-century technology between the country’s 21st-century digital backbone and many of its homes and businesses.”

Residents are invited to register their interest to attend the NBN Crisis Meeting at Springfield Lakes State School Hall on Thursday 13 July by visiting www.nbncrisismeeting.com or calling 3879 6440.