p>Ballarat will be a region divided by broadband haves and have nots if the Rudd Labor Government is not re-elected at next month’s federal election.
New maps have been released that graphically show the extent to which Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull would wreck Federal Labor’s National Broadband Network (NBN), denying people in Ballarat access to the boundless educational, health, lifestyle and commercial opportunities this essential infrastructure delivers.
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Ballarat will be a region divided by broadband haves and have nots if the Rudd Labor Government is not re-elected at next month’s federal election.
New maps have been released that graphically show the extent to which Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull would wreck Federal Labor’s National Broadband Network (NBN), denying people in Ballarat access to the boundless educational, health, lifestyle and commercial opportunities this essential infrastructure delivers.
Right now, construction on the NBN’s fibre network has commenced to 19,000 homes and businesses in Ballarat. If there’s a change of government on 7 September, that is where the fibre rollout will stop.
Under the Coalition, the digital divide will run through the centre of town. Areas to miss out on superfast fibre broadband under the Coalition include Wendouree, Alfredton, Delacombe, Redan, Lake Gardens, Sebastopol, Buninyong, Mount Clear and Mount Helen.
They will be left with one of two choices: battle on using last century’s copper or fork out as much as $5,000 to have fibre connected to their home or business – something others in Ballarat will get for free under Labor’s NBN.
However, if the Rudd Labor Government is re-elected the roll out of fibre-to-the-premise will continue over the next 12 months to cover Ballarat and surrounding areas.
Federal Labor’s NBN is an investment in our nation’s future prosperity. It will transform the way we live our lives, do business, grow our regions and engage with the rest of world.
That’s why access to it should not depend on how much money you have or where you happen to live or do business. When it comes superfast, affordable and reliable broadband, only Federal Labor will do it once, do it right, and do it with fibre.
If Tony Abbott wins, Ballarat will lose.
Australians now face a clear choice: they can vote for the future and fibre under Labor or the past and copper under the Coalition.
*** Attached are the maps for Ballarat comparing Labor’s NBN with the Coalition’s second rate alternative.
