Tuesday, 5 April 2022

Ministers statements: Connecting Victoria

Ms PULFORD (Western Victoria—Minister for Employment, Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy, Minister for Small Business, Minister for Resources) (11:59): I am very pleased to give the house an update on the progress of our government’s $550 million Connecting Victoria program, affectionately known as Connecting Vic. On Monday, 28 March, I was very pleased to announce we have committed, in partnership with NBN Co, to a faster and more reliable internet service for Victorians in 54 locations across Victoria, reaching more than 34 000 residences and around 7700 businesses. We are funding NBN to install more than 1015 kilometres of fibre across the state to improve broadband. That is more than the distance from Melbourne to Sydney and is part of a $73 million agreement we struck with NBN Co last year.

I particularly want to highlight the upgrades that are in store for Geelong and the Barwon region. Thanks to the advocacy of local members—all fabulous local members, but I would particularly like to give a shout-out to Darren Cheeseman for his work on this—we have been able to learn about what these areas need. The people of Barwon told us they need fast and reliable internet so they do not get left behind and so they can use new technology and live their best lives. I am pleased to share that locations in and around Belmont, Corio, Geelong, East Geelong, Grovedale, Marshall, Highton, North Geelong, Geelong West, Drumcondra, Rippleside and Ocean Grove will all be receiving an NBN fibre-to-the-premises upgrade, which represents a total of over 8300 premises set to benefit from the fibre rollout, including over 900 businesses.

These upgrades will make it easier for Victorians to do the things that they need to do and also the things that they love to do: meeting up online, running their businesses, even downloading a movie. With improved internet they can expand their markets by doing business online or use online tools to learn new skills, as well as have more flexibility in how they work or learn. These are not the only upgrades in the region. I am pleased to announce that through round 2 of the commonwealth mobile network hardening program six sites in Barwon will receive a range of improvements to mobile infrastructure as well.