ALP national secretary Tim Gartrell said the party had booked a national run of 30-second radio spots to push leader Kevin Rudd’s plan to invest $4.7 billion with the private sector in building a fibre-to-the-node network.
It is the second time this year the ALP national machine has booked Australian-wide campaigns, following the Australia Day TV personal message from Mr Rudd,
The 30-second ads’ national run will include areas from Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, as well as key regional areas like NSW Central Coast, NSW Central West, as well as Tasmania and Queensland.
“The ad highlights Federal Labor's plan to revolutionise Australia's internet infrastructure by creating a new world class National Broadband Network and boost internet speed by more than 40 times, the ALP national office said in a statement.
In an election year, broadband is seen by Labor as a platform for attacking the Prime Minister John Howard on his strong suit – his economic record.
Labor says government’s inaction on “real” broadband has kept Australia’s productivity growth rates low, and has robbed Australians of opportunities in new markets.
Writing in The Australian newspaper, Labor Treasury spokesman Wayne Swan said Mr Howard’s failure to act on improving broadband was evidence that government was “self-satisfied, backward looking and complacent.”
“With the possible exceptions of climate change and education, nowhere is this complacency more obvious than in its chronic neglect of Australia’s broadband needs,” Mr Swan said.
The economic arguments for Labor’s broadband plan were compelling and backed by the Government’s own broadband advisory group, which say the economic benefits of high-speed internet could be as high as $30 billion annually.
“Lifting productivity is a particularly urgent priority at a time when we are slipping further behind the productivity leaders,” Mr Swan said.
“Productivity growth in Australia averaged less than half that of the US over the past five years and represents a major hole in the Government’s economic agenda,” he said.
“Labor’s broadband plan will allow health, education and other public services to be delivered in newer, faster ways … (and) will mean Australian businesses will be kicking with the wind in hyper-competitive global economy.”
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