Letter submitted to the NewsMail on October 30, 2014:

I am writing in response to Sam Williamson’s letter (NM 30/10).

Under Labor, the National Broadband Network was the most wasteful and mismanaged project in Australia’s history. No cost benefit analysis was undertaken and so, shortly after being elected to Government, the Coalition asked NBNCo to undertake an independent strategic review of the project. The review found the roll out was two years behind schedule, with final completion due 11 years later than was promised by Kevin Rudd.

With the rapid and ongoing evolution of technology globally, the NBN would have been superseded and outdated by the time Labor had connected fibre to every home. Mr Williamson’s assertion that fibre installation would have been free under Labor is fanciful and deeply offensive to the hardworking taxpayers who fund Australia’s infrastructure.

The review revealed the cost of completing the NBN had blown out to $73 Billion – that’s $29 Billion more than taxpayers were told. It also found that if Labor’s policies were left in place households would pay $139 per month for broadband, compared to about $72 under the Coalition’s plan.

When you consider 75 per cent of the world’s 1.6 billion internet devices are portable, it’s easy to see why using a mix of technology is ideal.

Development applications have been lodged with Bundaberg and Fraser Coast Regional Councils to provide NBN wireless internet to rural and remote communities across the Hinkler electorate.

I fought hard to ensure Bundaberg was one of ten sites prioritised nationally for fibre to the node, which is expected to result in about 25,000 Hinkler premises being able to connect next year.

I acknowledge there is some disappointment that not every suburb or household will get NBN in this first phase. However, the fact that Bundaberg is a point of interconnect for the NBN bodes well for further expansion across the Hinkler electorate.

Our plan will save taxpayers $32 Billion, keep monthly bills lower and deliver the NBN four years sooner!

Keith Pitt MP

Federal Member for Hinkler

Mr PITT  (Hinkler) (13:37): On Friday night I attended the launch the Lighthouse Festival’s Art and Photography exhibition and the launch of the Lighthouse Festival at Burnett Heads. Some 8000 people attended the festival, now in its fifth year on the weekend, at the Jack Norgate Oval, which is where the original lighthouse is now situated. It was a wonderful event and well attended obviously.

These things do not happen without a strong organising committee and I would like to make special mention of chairman David Wise who did a wonderful job in organising this year’s event. But you could not do these things without the indomitable Sherilee Ramm, who coordinated the art show and who is a very well-known local at Burnett Heads. The major sponsor and a large employer locally, the Gladstone Ports Corporation, also came on board. 

That Burnett Heads lighthouse was originally located at South head in 1873 and operated for some 99 years before being replaced by a modern structure in 1972. That lighthouse is open on the fourth Sunday of every month, and these things do not happen with out volunteers. Marje Kidd has been doing this role for many years. She gave us a great review of the lighthouse and its history on Friday night, which was attended by myself, of course, and the local state member for Burnett, Stephen Bennett. Local history is what it is all about and I would encourage anyone who might be listening to this broadcast to get themselves to Bundaberg to see the lighthouse and even to attend next year’s lighthouse festival. While you are there, see some whales in Hervey Bay and have a look at the turtles at Christmas.

Mr PITT  (Hinkler) (17:15): I rise to speak on the Rural Research and Development Legislation Amendment Bill 2014. Agriculture is vital to my electorate and the Wide Bay region more broadly, so let me read, for the benefit of the House, some of the data contained in the 2014 ABARES report for Wide Bay. About 15 per cent of all people employed in the Queensland agriculture, forestry and fishing sector are based in Wide Bay; the sector employs about 8,500 people locally, representing about eight per cent of the region’s total workforce. In addition, about 2,700 people are employed locally in food product manufacturing. In 2011-12 the gross value of agricultural production in Wide Bay was $949 million, or nine per cent of total agricultural production in Queensland. Of that $949 million, fruit contributed 22 per cent, or $207 million, and vegetables contributed 17 per cent, or $166 million. Sugar cane accounted for 14 per cent, or $128 million. The region is home to about 4,620 farms, or 16 per cent of all farm businesses in Queensland. I am a former cane farmer. My father and brothers continue to operate a substantial cane harvesting business. Agriculture and family farming are a part of me, and always will be.

The Australian government supports rural industries in a variety of ways, including grants programs. Since coming to government, the coalition has signed free trade agreements with Japan and South Korea—two of our largest trading partners. My region has endured two major floods in three years and is now in the midst of a drought. Would you believe it? Two floods and now a drought! With exorbitant electricity prices and ongoing price pressure from the supermarket duopoly, growers are locked in an uphill battle. That is why I am pleased to be part of a government that consults and not one that makes ad hoc decisions, like Labor’s overnight suspension of live export trade. We are committed to restoring some stability to the sector, to improve productivity and farm gate returns.

Last week Minister for Agriculture, Barnaby Joyce, released the government’s green paper as another step forward to developing an agriculture competitiveness white paper. The green paper draws on feedback from real people, people on the ground, people who have shared their experience and opinion on a wide variety of agricultural issues. The taskforce held hearings in Bundaberg earlier this year, and I would encourage Hinkler constituents to comment again on the green paper, to share their ideas for opportunities and solutions. The green paper represents a range of possible policy options that now need further consideration and prioritisation.

Support is also currently being provided to the sector through 15 rural research and development corporations. During the 2013 election campaign the then coalition opposition committed to provide an additional $100 million to these rural research and development corporations when in government. This is aimed at improving Australia’s capacity to deliver cutting edge technology, continuing applied research focussed on collaborative innovation and increasing the appeal of Australian commodities to potential markets. The boost is on top of the $250 million already provided each year as matching funding and more than $450 million in levies collected from industry. To keep our rural industries engaged on the world stage, the government is a member of international commodity and regional fisheries management organisations. This bill changes the way the government pays its membership of these organisations. Membership fees will now come directly from the budgets of our 15 rural research and development corporations. This will save the government about $7 million over the next four years.

Agricultural research and development operates in a global system and, as such, must take international issues into account. The same can be said for trade. If we expect to be able to sell our produce overseas, we must also be willing to accept their exports when it is safe to do so. Australia is a member of the World Trade Organisation and, as such, import risk analysis must be based on science and free of political interference. The Department of Agriculture recently announced it will lift a ban to allow imports of fresh ginger from Fiji to Australia. Fiji has exported fresh ginger to New Zealand and to the United States for years, but Australian growers were understandably concerned about the threat posed by pests and diseases—things like burrowing nematode and yam scale.

There are 49 ginger growers in Australia who produce around 8,000 tonnes a year, worth about $35 million. Having met with Australian Ginger Growers Association chairman, Anthony Rehbein, on numerous occasions, I publicly urged the federal Department of Agriculture to adhere to the strictest possible import standards when inspecting fresh ginger from Fiji. The department assured growers and the public that it had very stringent measures in place to ensure biosecurity risks are reduced to the lowest level possible. The department said it could review import conditions in light of new scientific information.

The association intercepted five boxes of ginger at Sydney Markets in one of the first consignments from Fiji and asked the Queensland Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry to inspect them. DAFF said the ginger was generally very clean but of poor condition. They found scale, traces of soil and foreign vegetable matter such as nut grass. There were also sunken lesions present, which could be indicative of burrowing nematode or fungal invasion. There were also a considerable number of rhizomes affected by root-knot nematode. There is now a dispute between ginger growers, the association, state and federal biosecurity officers, scientists and departmental bureaucrats as to whether similar pests already exist in Australia; how deep each of these bug varieties burrow; which variety is more invasive; and whether methyl bromide fumigation can disinfect ginger rhizome of both external and internal feeding parasites.

But the point that growers and the association are now making—and it seems to me to be a valid one—is that on page 2 of the import risk assessment it states:

… consignments must be free of live insects, disease symptoms, trash, contaminant seeds, soil and other debris on arrival in Australia.

Should it matter whether some of the parasites already exist in Australia? Should the testing carried out by DAFF and the research gathered by the association be considered new scientific information? The risk is this: we may find ourselves in the future in the same situation as the Northern Territory, which, from recent reports, now has an outbreak of cucumber green mottle mosaic virus. This will absolutely decimate the melon industry in the Northern Territory. This virus in other countries produces 50 per cent losses in the field—50 per cent!

This is an industry in the Northern Territory that is worth $50 million to their economy and it is something that is transmitted by sea. I note the contribution of the member for Capricornia about the pineapple industry, which is worth $80 million a year to Australia. There are 80 growers and they have year-on-year growth, but they have real issues with the potential for a disease which makes pineapples in the field explode. Can you imagine walking through a field of exploding pineapples?

As I said earlier, the import risk assessments must be free of political interference. It is incumbent upon the federal Department of Agriculture and Australia’s biosecurity officers to ensure our crops and farmers are protected, because I sure as hell hope we do not see a repeat of what is happening in the Top End. Agriculture is vital to our national economy, our regional economy, and of course the people in my community in my electorate. Their livelihoods depend on the vigilance of these officers. It is absolutely vital that it be protected.

I encourage Australians to support their local farmers by buying Australian produce as the first choice and, of course, especially ginger.

Mr PITT  (Hinkler) (12:00): I rise to speak on the Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2014 and the cognate bill. The previous government’s workforce supplement compact was a flawed and inequitable system with a clear objective of coercing union membership in the sector. It dictated how aged-care providers could spend the funding. Repurposing the workforce supplement was a coalition election commitment to increase the basic subsidy provided to aged-care services for residential care, home care and flexible care.

The coalition government suspended applications for the supplement in September 2013 and consulted the sector to ensure the supplement was flexible and allowed providers to target their areas of greatest need. Unlike Labor, the government does not believe in central control and command and believes that those who deliver care are best placed to know where investment is needed. We have returned the previous government’s workforce supplement into the general pool of aged-care funding so that providers can spend the funds in their greatest areas of need. Between 2013-14 and 2016-17, $1.1 billion will flow to providers. This includes a 2.4 per cent increase on top of normal indexation of care funding for eligible aged-care programs from July this year. All programs previously eligible for the workforce supplement will receive this funding.

Aged-care providers in regional, rural and remote areas will receive a $54 million boost in funding through a 20 per cent increase to the viability supplement. This funding boost will help improve the capacity of over 950 services in these areas to provide quality aged care. The government is also reviewing current employment and training initiatives in the aged-care and disability services systems to develop an aged-care workforce development strategy.

The most common complaint from consumers and their families is how hard it is to find information on the services they need. So this bill implements stage 2 of the My Aged Care gateway from 1 January next year. My Aged Care gateway is a national website and contact centre. It provides information and support to older people and their families as they consider their aged-care options. The website will empower consumers through greater transparency and the ability to compare options and prices. For the first time, all accommodation prices will be published in one place. It will help consumers locate services in their local area and provide referrals to assessment services and service providers. The My Aged Care website also features a fee estimator, which is an online tool that allows people to enter some information about their income and assets and receive an estimate of the fees they may be asked to pay by an aged-care provider. This will be an invaluable tool to help older people and their families plan and prepare for entry into aged care.

Only five per cent of Australians over the age of 65 live in residential aged care. We know that most people want to remain living in their own home for as long as possible, which is why we are increasing the number of home care packages. There will be an additional 80,000 over the next 10 years. Making the decision to enter residential aged care is difficult for anyone at the best of times, but the complex web of services, subsidies and eligibility criteria can seem at times almost impossible to navigate. What can be even more frustrating is the waiting time for assessment and bed shortages.

In the Wide Bay aged-care planning region, which includes my electorate of Hinkler, as at 30 June last year there were 2,856 allocated residential care places and 2,226 in operation. In other words, there are 630 beds that are funded by the federal government but not yet built by providers. The department has determined that the beds are required, but for various reasons providers    are not investing. However, in my local Bundaberg NewsMail, a local newspaper from the northern end of my electorate, there is good news. In the coastal town of Bargara construction has commenced of a $25 million facility with 160 beds besides the Palm Lake Resort. The dozers are on the ground as we speak. This is good news for the residents of my electorate. I congratulate the Palm Lake Resort group CEO, Manuel Lang, who said:

Bundaberg is a prime example of where there’s very, very limited aged care places.

But what we’ve found since we’ve launched Palm Lake Care is that it not only serves as a benefit to our residents, it also services a much broader benefit to the wider community.

Palm Lake Resort manager Ann Finn was also on site. I congratulate her on being so successful to achieve this.

The ratio for operational residential care places in the Wide Bay region is 66.2 for every 1,000 people aged 70 or over. That is compared to the Queensland ratio of 81.4. For operational home care places that ratio is 26 compared to 27.8. So the operational residential care places are 17 per cent under the state average. This situation is simply not acceptable. I will be seeking a meeting with my state and local government counterparts to see if together—and I emphasise ‘together’—we can attract further investment to the region to get these beds built and services provided.

There are lots of things governments can do to encourage providers to expand or establish services in Wide Bay and my electorate of Hinkler. Providing land, reducing red tape and expediting development approval processes are just a few. Providing 630 beds and delivering 100 home care places across the region would not only reduce the waiting list for people who deserve to live out their remaining days with dignity but also stimulate the construction industry and the local economy more broadly. It would create jobs and training opportunities in nursing, allied health, pharmacy, administration and retail.

Economists often talk about the impact our aging population will have on productivity, but few talk about the opportunities it will create. According to demographer Bernard Salt, between 2006 and 2011 the fastest growing job was aged and disability carer. Given the oldest baby boomer is still only 66, he calls aged care the ‘space to be in’. I am with Bernard. The glass is half full. Hinkler has an older than average population and is a renowned retirement hub. While there will be some challenges, I look forward to seeing what opportunities it brings in the next 10 years.

Mr PITT  (Hinkler) (09:45): Last month a new memorial wall dedicated to Australian service nurses was officially unveiled in Bundaberg by Governor of Queensland Paul de Jersey. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend due to duties in Canberra, but my wife, Allison, and daughter Ruby attended on my behalf. 

The dedication ceremony was held to coincide with the 100th anniversary of when the first contingent of Army nursing sisters departed Queensland for World War I. The memorial park is the first of its kind in Australia. Only First World War nurses who served with the Australian Army Nursing Service are recognised at the National War Memorial in Canberra, so the special commemorative plaque that was unveiled recognises women from all units and organisations who provided medical aid during the Great War.

Recently, I was also very fortunate to attend a very moving dedication ceremony at Hervey Bay’s Freedom Park for the Centenary of Anzac Memorial. It was attended by Rear Admiral Ken Doolan AO (Retired), the National President of the RSL; and Jean-Luc Bodson, the Belgian Ambassador; John Kelly; Ted Sorrensen; and Anne Madden. I would like to make special mention of Con Souvlis. Con is a World War II veteran and a well-known local businessman, who made a substantial donation towards to the memorial. The event was also attended by Senator James McGrath. 

The federal government contributed $50,000 towards the expansion of the Freedom Park war memorial in Hervey Bay, under the Anzac Centenary Local Grants Program. The Hervey Bay RSL sub-branch has used the funds to help purchase a bronze statue of a light horseman. I must say that it is an absolutely fabulous memorial. The light horseman in full charge over the parapet, sword in hand, is something to behold.

The dedication was conducted by three chaplains but I would like to make special mention of the RSL chaplain Vic Burgess. In the time remaining, I would like to put into Hansard part of his requiem for the day, which is made up from a range of different areas, including the light horse poems. He read:

No one will weep for you my War horse, 

No letter home, 

They’ll be No mention in dispatches, No Memorial

For you are just an animal, 

Sacrificed on the altar of man, left to rot in Flanders field

But for those precious minutes, he was more than man, 

This day, of all days, he kept his bond, did not flinch, 

Though death was all around, 

Galloped blindly through the death rattle of the guns, face on, 

No retreat, Onward, Onward, 

The magnificence of the horse, No equal, never forget, 

For it is the shame of a nation, a sin of mankind, 

To undo the hand of god

No glory here, only an empty cup left on the altar of insanity.

   …   …   …

For I will weep for you, 

My noble friend, 

My War Horse, You Magnificent Beast.

Amen.

Mr PITT  (Hinkler) (09:57): Thank you for the unexpected opportunity, Mr Deputy Speaker! Unfortunately, I sat through the member for Lilley’s contribution and I thought that it could not go without a response. His statements about Queensland Health were just utterly outrageous and incorrect.

Simply, the facts are these: 60,000-plus patients were on the long dental waiting list when the LNP government came into power. Do you know how many people are on that list now, Mr Deputy Speaker? Zero—not one. They have halved the long waiting list for surgery. Minister Lawrence Springborg is doing an incredibly good job. He has actually had a very difficult portfolio to inherit, with things like the Queensland payroll system for health, which has cost over a billion dollars. A billion dollars for a piece of software! We had people who were not being paid, who were being paid incorrectly and who were getting bonuses they should not have. It was an absolute debacle. So I congratulate the minister on doing such a fabulous job in the time that he had available in their first term. It is just an incredible result.

They were left with $80 billion of debt. It is one of the highest levels of debt for a state government ever, so the people of Queensland were right when they threw out the former Labor state government. The Queensland government, the LNP government—the Campbell Newman-led government—are getting on with the job. They are doing a wonderful job. They have sorted out long dental waiting lists. And as someone who comes from Bundaberg, where we had the Dr Patel scandal—’Dr Death’ as he was well known by the media—I can report that the Bundaberg Hospital is now amongst the top four on performance criteria across the nation. They are doing a fabulous job. They provide a great service to the people I represent. I am very pleased that the LNP government is still in control of Queensland Health and I hope that continues. Thank you.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER   ( Hon. BC Scott ): Order! In accordance with standing order 193 the time for constituency statements has concluded.

Mr PITT  (Hinkler) (15:05): My question is to the Assistant Minister for Employment. Will the minister update the House on the Relocation Assistance to Take Up a Job program? How is this program helping to change the lives of long-term unemployed Australians?

Mr Pyne:  On a point of order, Madam Speaker. The minister could not possibly have heard the question given the din coming from the opposition. I would ask him to repeat the question.

The SPEAKER: I absolutely agree. I could not hear it, either.

Opposition members interjecting—

The SPEAKER: I know it is Thursday. I know some people like an early mark to get an early plane, and I am only too willing to assist.

Mr Champion:  Not me!

The SPEAKER: Oh, to the contrary! The member for Wakefield is the champion, and if he really wishes to add to his title today, I am happy to oblige. Then his colleagues might remain silent to give him support in remaining in the chamber. The member for Hinkler has the call.

Mr PITT  (Hinkler) (15:06): My question is to the Assistant Minister for Employment. Will the minister update the House on the Relocation Assistance to Take Up a Job program? How is this program helping to change the lives of long-term unemployed Australians?

Mr HARTSUYKER  (Cowper—Deputy Leader of the House and Assistant Minister for Employment) (15:06): I thank the member for his question, and let me say that the member for Hinkler is a member who understands the importance of work and what it can do for individuals, and the importance of creating opportunities for our job seekers. The cost of moving can be a barrier for many job seekers in taking up a job in a distant location, especially when that job seeker has been unemployed for an extended period of time. That is why the government introduced the relocation assistance program to help job seekers who have been unemployed for 12 months or longer to move to where a job will be. It is a very important program. Under this program, job seekers can receive up to $6,000 to move to a regional area, up to $3,000 to move to a metropolitan area and for those with a family there is up to an additional $3,000 available to assist with the cost of moving.

I am pleased to report to the House that progress on the program is good with some 145 people taking up the opportunity to move to a job opportunity through the assistance of this program. It is particularly pleasing to see that many of the people who are taking up the program, some 44 per cent, have been unemployed for two years or longer. I think that all members in this House would agree that securing a job after two years of unemployment has the ability to be a life-changing opportunity.

I can further inform the House of the success of a constituent of the member for Hinkler who moved, with the assistance of this program, to take up a job after being on unemployment benefits since 2006. They were able to move into a job with all the opportunities that a job can bring with the assistance of this program. 

Some 69 per cent of job opportunities that people have been able to take up through this program have been in regional areas and they have been in a diverse range of industries such as forestry, fishing, manufacturing, food services and accommodation services. So there is a range of opportunities that people have taken up through the assistance of this program. 

The relocation assistance program is an example of this government delivering on our election commitments, delivering on our commitment to create jobs and opportunities, delivering on our commitment to ensure that as many Australians as possible have the opportunity to get into work and receive the benefits that work can bring. It is a benefit to job seekers, it is of benefit to our broader community and the program is going well so far.

Mr Abbott:  I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.

Mr PITT  (Hinkler) (13:13): I am pleased to be able to speak on this PMB because it is an issue I have followed quite closely. In recent months family day care providers have contacted my office about their campaign. Families need family day care. I invited a number of those providers to attend a forum in Bundaberg, at the northern end of my electorate, where they raised their concerns directly with the Assistant Minister for Education, Susan Ley. I thank the assistant minister for making herself available and for her genuine engagement. In Hinkler, as at June 2013, 6,780 children from 4,730 families attend 83 childcare services of all types. On average, Hinkler families paid $6.15 per hour per child, compared to $6.50 in Queensland and $7.35 nationally. One Hinkler family day care provider says it has calculated that the changes we are making to the Community Support Program will increase fees by $5 per week per child. But it is important to note that CSP is not a fee assistance program and is not paid direct to the educator or parents. CSP is an operational payment paid direct to family day care services to assist them in establishing or maintaining services in areas where they might otherwise be unviable or unable to meet the requirements of the community, particularly in disadvantaged, regional and remote areas.

In 2006 the eligibility criteria were relaxed for family day care providers to help grow the then fledgling sector. Strict criteria remained in place for all other childcare service types. Family day care is now a viable sector in metropolitan areas. In our major cities there has been a 74 per cent increase in new services. By contrast, the number of services operating in regional and remote areas has declined since 2011.

So we are changing the eligibility criteria from 1 July next year so that CSP criteria for family day care is better targeted towards regional, remote and disadvantaged communities where there is unmet demand or market failure. Total operation support payments through the CSP to family day care services will be capped at $250,000 per financial year to ensure the funding is distributed more equitably. The changes will also bring support for family day care services into line with other types of child care such as long day care and outside school hours care.

A report in 2012 by the Australian National Audit Office found that family day care was receiving 71 per cent of the total CSP budget, despite only caring for about 10 per cent of the children. The report highlighted the growing problem with CSP and recommended its eligibility guidelines be reviewed. Labor ignored the report, allowing the CSP budget to blow out by another $200 million over three years. They favoured inequity, debt and financial mismanagement over rocking the boat in the lead-up to an election.

We will not take our eyes off the ball. At the weekend it was revealed that the Abbott government’s new childcare compliance task force had taken action against 24 childcare services since July, issuing 256 fines totalling $1.74 million. Alarmingly, family day care made up over 90 per cent of offenders. About half of the 22 non-compliant family day care coordination services were fined for making excessive claims for payments on behalf of children in their care, often unbeknown to parents.

Parents in my electorate have joined the Families Need Family Day Care campaign, but I question whether they have all the facts about the CSP program. The flyer they have signed says parents face uncertainty around increasing fees, service closures and even their capacity to remain in the workforce. As I said previously, CSP is not a fee assistance program. Parents using approved care can still apply for the child care benefit, or CCB, and child care rebate to assist with the costs of care. Parents using approved family day care receive a rate of assistance 33.3 per cent higher then parents using long day care. The maximum rate of CCB for one child in family day care is $5.32 per hour, compared to CCB of $3.99 per hour for other care. The coalition government is providing $28.5 billion over four years to assist families with childcare costs.

As a father of three, I understand how important family day care is to the Hinkler community. As someone who has three children, I have used all types of child care services, including family day care with people like Kim Wheat who had children of a similar age. My children have grown up in some of those environments and it was fantastic for them. Quality services that operate outside traditional hours are vital to families with working parents, particularly those who do shift work. That is why the government has designed a business development package to assist family day care providers to make the transition. The package includes access to a range of business workshops and webinars as well as professional development, support and resources.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Mrs Andrews ): As there are no further speakers, the debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.

Mr PITT  (Hinkler) (16:23): I rise to congratulate the Bundaberg Fruit & Vegetable Growers association on running another successful night in recent weeks. Peter Hockings and his team have done a fabulous job once again and over 500 local growers and their associates turned out for the event in the Civic Centre in Bundaberg. The people that are in that room know better than anyone else does what it takes to be successful. It is an Australian farming trait to have a go, work hard and, hopefully, be rewarded. As someone who has worked in the industry for many years, who was a farmer for over a decade and whose family have been involved locally for 40 or 50 years, I can tell you that farmers learn one thing of great importance. That is resilience. They also know that the money is not there until it is in the bank. It does not matter what stage the crop is at or what the exchange rate might look like or what the weather is doing; until you are paid, it is never over. 

I also had the pleasure of representing Prime Minister Tony Abbott at the event and read a message from him which outlined all the things we are doing to help the sector. I was also pleased to see some of my federal colleagues there as well, including Palmer United Senator Glenn Lazarus. However, I was very disappointed that, after meeting with a handful of growers earlier in the day, he told journalists that farmers were being treated ‘like second class citizens’ by the government and ‘lack the minimum levels of support they need to survive, let alone succeed’. I would like to read what BFVG chairman, Geoff Chivers, posted online:

Disappointed to see that Senator Lazarus has turned a positive discussion into a political statement, inferring that we were being treated like second-class citizens. This is not the case. In fact, the current Government has been working closely with our industry to deal with the issues we face.

Federal Member for Hinkler Keith Pitt today welcomed NBN Co’s release of the Hinkler suburbs which will be among the first to receive the latest vectored VDSL technology over fibre-to-the-node connections.

Mr Pitt announced in June that Bundaberg, at the northern end of the electorate, was one of only ten sites prioritised nationally for superfast broadband upgrades.

“I’m pleased we can now offer some certainty to about 25,000 Hinkler residents with the release of these initial rollout maps,” Mr Pitt said.

Suburbs included in the initial rollout, where premises are expected to be able to connect in 2015:

• Bundaberg Central
• Kalkie
• Bundaberg East
• Walkervale
• Norville
• Thabeban
• Avenell Heights
• Bundaberg South
• Kepnock
• Ashfield
• Millbank
• Svensson Heights
• Bundaberg North

NBN Co has so far connected 50 end users to its fibre to the node network, achieving average speeds of 90mbps download and 36mbps upload.This bandwidth would allow a single premise to stream more than 15 high definition video streams at once.

Mr Pitt said almost 30 per cent of premises selected in the initial rollout were classified as ‘underserved’ in the Government’s MyBroadband study, which ranked all suburbs in Australia in terms of the quality and access to fixed line broadband.

“In coming weeks, the community will see workers out in the street, planning the new network and undertaking civil construction work in getting the fibre-to-the-node network built,” Mr Pitt said.

“Bundaberg is a point of interconnect for the NBN, which bodes well for further expansion of fibre-to-the-node to other suburbs across Hinkler.”

Mr Pitt said the Government was delivering on its promise to deliver the NBN sooner, at a lower cost to consumers and taxpayers, by using a mix of technology.

“Construction has begun on fixed wireless internet towers at Apple Tree Creek, Doolbi and Alloway, which between them will service about 1000 premises,” he said.

You can find more information about the rollout at www.nbnco.com.au/maps.

Media contact: Larine Statham 0427 653 814

Further background reading:

https://keithpitt.com.au/news/bundaberg-priority-national-broadband-network

https://keithpitt.com.au/news/adjournment-debate-national-broadband-network

https://keithpitt.com.au/news/nbn-co-recommends-plan-save-taxpayers-and-consumers-money