Mr REPACHOLI (Hunter) (15:09): My question is to the Minister for Communications. How is the Albanese Labor government's investment in communications infrastructure helping fix connectivity challenges for Australians in rural and regional communities?
Ms ROWLAND (Greenway-Minister for Communications) (15:09): I thank the member for his question. He knows that, if you live in a capital city or in a region, access to fast, reliable, and affordable broadband has never been more important. That's why the Albanese government is supporting the NBN to provide thousands of Australians living in rural and regional areas access to faster, unmetered Sky Muster satellite broadband.
This is a game changer for regional Australia. We know that Australians have never been more data hungry, with more devices consuming more data than ever before. What this new product means is that satellite consumers can get faster downloads of up to 100 megabits per second-unmetered data, 24 hours a day. And that is a first for an NBN consumer satellite product.
These improved satellite services have been made possible by this government's 1.1 billion for rural and regional communications infrastructure. Importantly, that included 65 million to communities in need to improve their disaster readiness.
Our work to fix the NBN and to improve regional connectivity comes after nearly a decade of technological and economic incompetence by those opposite, whose multitechnology mix failed the regions, who promised an NBN for $29 billion. It doubled in cost and didn't deliver. This government is delivering
