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Ministerial Statement
Mr CAMPBELL (Keira—Minister for Regional Development, Minister for the Illawarra, and Minister for Small Business) [3.33 p.m.]: I inform the House of a major communications upgrade for the University of Wollongong. The New South Wales and Federal governments have each pledged $4.2 million to upgrade the broadband capacity of this award-winning educational institution, which is of critical importance to the ongoing growth and success of the Illawarra. This new funding means that $8.4 million will be spent on a fibre-optic cable linking the university's main campus and its new innovation campus to Sydney. It means that the university will have dramatically improved broadband access with unrestricted future bandwidth growth.
This new high-speed Internet access has been described by the university's Vice-Chancellor, Professor Gerrard Sutton, as "one of the most major infrastructure achievements in the university's history". This new funding is a boon not only for students but for the university's researchers, who will be able to collaborate more easily with colleagues throughout the world. It follows the New South Wales Government's previous $24.5 million commitment towards the innovation campus, a world-class technology park of the not too distant future. This extra funding is great news for the university, for Wollongong, and for the Illawarra. It will take the university into the future, giving its researchers and students excellent access to the best of new technology.
Ms SEATON (Southern Highlands) [3.34 p.m.]: I am sure we are all pleased to hear of the broadband upgrades at the University of Wollongong. The university is a major asset not only for the Illawarra but for the Southern Highlands, because a University of Wollongong campus located at Moss Vale is of great benefit to the people in my area. Joanna Gash, John Fahey and I worked very hard with Professor Gerrard Sutton to achieve that campus at Moss Vale. I am pleased to hear that the University of Wollongong will have improved broadband access to the Internet.
However, if the Minister is interested in regional development, I ask him to extend his interest to the lack of action on the roll-out of broadband access in schools, which is way behind schedule. Many schools in New South Wales, including the Oaks and Oakdale in my area, are still waiting for the promised broadband roll-out by this Government. I recommend that the Minister spend some time with the Wollongong Catholic diocese education office, which has put a lot of effort into the Canadian broadband model. I am sure it has a lot to tell us that the Government could adopt to ensure that all educational institutions—tertiary, primary and secondary—get that facility.