Labors Regional Communications spokesperson Stephen Jones and Labors candidate for Page Janelle Saffin have today said that Labors NBN plan will be a game changer for homes and businesses in the region.
Today Labor will be announcing our plan to build the NBN Australian households and businesses deserve.
It will result in up to two million additional Australian homes and businesses receiving a Fibre-To-The-Premises connection.
An incoming Shorten Labor Government will direct NBN Co. to prioritise the rollout of Fibre-to-the-Premises NBN to more than 15,000 homes and businesses in Lismore. This will include Bexhill, Chilcotts Grass, East Lismore, Girards Hill, Goonellabah, Lismore, Lismore Heights, Loftville, North Lismore, Richmond Hill and South Lismore.
In the entire electorate of Page, not a single existing home or business will get Malcolm Turnbulls second rate Fibre-to-the-Node network by 2016 as initially promised. Not one.
This morning Mr. Jones joined Ms. Saffin in visiting the Ley family in Lismore to talk about why the NBN is so important for their lives, work and study.
The Ley family, like families across Australia, just wants an Internet connection they can rely on.
Unfortunately, Malcolm Turnbull hasnt been listening. In the last three years the cost of his second rate NBN has almost doubled, the time it will take to build has more than doubled and Australia has dropped from 30th in the world for internet speeds to 60th.
But Labor has a plan to restore our vision of the NBN. We will be phasing out the roll-out of Mr. Turnbulls second-rate Fibre-To-The-Node NBN.
Labor will spend the exact same amount of public funding but connect two more million more homes to fibre optic cable.
Our promise is this - we will deliver a superior NBN and ensure that homes and businesses in places like Lismore dont miss out.
Janelle Safin said that there was a lot of dissatisfaction in the region about Turnbulls flawed NBN.
Stephen and I spoke to Keda Ley and her family today to find out why the NBN matters so much to them.
She is a mum of three who works and studies from home and she needs a strong, reliable Internet connection to make this happen.
There are families just like the Ley family across the region; in the 21st century they need first-rate Internet services.
Of course it isnt just households who stand to benefit from Labors plan. Small business owners cant compete if they are constantly being held back by an inferior broadband connection.
The NBN build has not even started in Grafton, Lismore, Alstonville, Casino, Evans heads, Woolgoolga and Yambla. These areas deserve better and Labor will deliver for them.
The people of Lismore have been forgotten by the Liberals. Only Labor will fix Malcolm Turnbulls Mess and deliver the vital infrastructure of the 21st century to Lismore.
