PROBLEMS TAKE BIG TOLL ON BUSINESS

AS Queensland’s second largest city, the Gold Coast is growing at a rate that is outstripping most of the state.

As we continue to grow, we need to be at the forefront of development and advancement.

While this might make you think of expanding the job market or building new infrastructure, it’s also about something not so visible but just as important: the internet.

High speed and affordable internet is something all Gold Coasters should have access to, but there are clearly still challenges.

To begin, the rollout of the NBN has experienced significant delays. I’m sure Malcolm Turnbull is still kicking himself for his declaration that the NBN would be completely rolled out by the end of 2016.

Two years on and fewer than half of the suburbs on the Coast have been connected.

Some, like Neranwood, can expect to wait until the end of 2020, four years after the promised date.

For many small business owners, the long wait is a frustrating burden. Like the cafe owner in Worongary who I met last year, who offers free Wi-Fi to his customers, but whose current broadband is very slow.

Hospitality is competitive, and he knows that the longer he waits for high speed internet connection, the more of an edge his competitors have.

But sadly, even being connected up to the NBN on the Gold Coast will not guarantee you a fast connection.

That’s what I learnt from the owner of a small refrigerator business in Helensvale. He gave up on using the NBN for his business altogether because it was so slow, resorting to the very expensive hotspot connection on his phone.

Gold Coasters like these business owners can’t afford this. The internet is not a luxury in this day and age, it’s an essential service like electricity or water.

Unfortunately, we are seeing a lack of action from the Federal LNP MPs on the Coast.

Despite pretending that they are the party of small business, they have done nothing to fight for a better rollout of the NBN here, even though small businesses are suffering the most.

We need real action on this, because doing nothing will have consequences for our city for decades to come.

The first step is ensuring that small businesses are protected in the case that their business is negatively impacted by problems with the NBN rollout.

Labor has announced a new NBN Service Guarantee that will set regulated timelines and standards for fixing faults, installations and missed appointments.

If NBNCo fails to meet these standards, they will face remedies that flow through to the consumer.

This policy is designed to improve accountability, incentivise performance and safeguard against excessive downtime.

This is a huge win for Gold Coast small businesses and consumers who have been frustrated to tears by the shoddy NBN rollout.

Labor’s policy means that the NBN will be more accountable to retail providers, which in turn will be more accountable to their customers.

The Gold Coast has a very bright future, but we can’t seize its potential without a decent NBN.

It’s time our local LNP MPs stopped ignoring the problem, and joined Labor in working on a solution.