Politics

Malcolm Turnbull Made Sure His Mansion Was Connected To The Highest Speed NBN

Only around one quarter of Australians have access to these speeds.

by Rob Stott  27 February 2018
NBN

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Good news for Malcolm Turnbull! Both his Point Piper mansion and his official Sydney residence, Kirribilli House, have been connected to the National Broadband Network (NBN) at the highest speeds available.

Government bureaucrats told Senate Estimates last night the PM’s two residences are both now connected to the premium 2000GB plan on a hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) connection. The plan provides up to 100 megabits per second at a cost to taxpayers of $120 a month for the Point Piper residence and $90 a month in Kirribilli.

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Paula Ganley from the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet confirmed the PM’s connection to the NBN had gone “smoothly”, and the PM’s official residence in Canberra, The Lodge, would also soon be connected.

“The Prime Minister had asked us to make sure that it was connected to Point Piper, but our office just had to make sure that everything proceeded smoothly,” Ganley told Estimates.

“It was only one discussion [between NBN Co and the PM’s Department] and then one appointment for them to come out and have a look. The connection took place after that,” she said.

“They had a site visit… to ensure the transition to NBN had minimal impact on existing infrastructure such as telephones, security systems and pay-TV services.”

Now of course the PM’s residences need to have a decent internet connection. He is, after all, a fairly important man.

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But the news will still be extremely frustrating for the thousands of Australians who have had their NBN connections delayed due to massive problems with the rollout, or who are already connected to the NBN but are suffering from serious service issues.

Complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) increased 160% last financial year, largely due to issues with the NBN.

(Full disclosure: I live in the PM’s electorate and have a HFC connection that’s supposed to operate at 100 megabits per second. It’s shit.)

Speaking to the Labor caucus this morning, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten congratulated the PM on his new internet connection.

“But there are whole suburbs of western Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane having to make do with a second rate copper network operating at one quarter of this speed. Mr Turnbull says that Australian families and businesses don’t need a first rate NBN, but he’s happy to use taxpayer money to look after his own suburb.”