Cunliffe DavidHon DAVID CUNLIFFE (Labour—New Lynn): It really is a pleasure to be able to take the floor and echo the comments that the chair of the Commerce Committee Melissa Lee has made and to acknowledge her for the good stewardship she gave the Telecommunications (Property Access and Other Matters) Amendment Bill. I acknowledge a Minister who was prepared to listen to submissions and work in a very open way with the select committee. I acknowledge all members of the committee noting Mr Hudson's contribution which was rich in its information and particularly Clare Curran MP my Labour colleague who played a leading role in bringing together some of the various submitters.In these brief remarks I will note the background to the innovative part of the bill the process that we went through in outlining the compromise that was reached and then background a little further the needs of the ultra-fast broadband (UFB) rollout and where to from here on multi-unit dwellings and access which are other parts contained in the bill.The bill as it was originally sent to Cabinet contained a provision that would allow UFB to be strung up along power lines owned by electricity companies across farmland with no need for an additional easement provided that a sensible arrangement could be reached with the farmers concerned. We understand that Federated Farmers opposed that provision at the time and it was withdrawn from the bill at Cabinet. The bill was sent to the select committee without those provisions that would have enabled the fast and far deployment of UFB cable through to our rural and remote areas to the benefit of farming communities.Northpower and others submitted to the select committee that they really did think that there was potential to make this happen. Federated Farmers which had the opportunity with our encouragement to have offline discussions with Northpower and others were able to find a zone of agreement. As the chair has pointed out there was a bit of debate about whether it was going to be rolling something 200 metres inside a farming property before a connection was established or 500 metres the latter being more generous to the farmer but more costly to the lines company. In the end a compromise was reached. It was a win-win. It allows the rollout. It does not penalise the farmers—they get better access to broadband—and it makes the economics of the lines company better because it has more connections for all those long rural lines.It did need an open and innovative approach by the Minister because the select committee was in the position on a bipartisan basis where in partnership with submitters it was actually crafting policy. That is normally done over the road in the Government departments and presented to Cabinet. So this was an unusual but extremely useful and very productive process. The product of that—the fruit of that if you like—will be that a lot of farmers get a lot of broadband a lot faster and cheaper than they were going to get it before we were able to bring the lines companies and Federated Farmers together around a compromise deal.So for those many people around New Zealand and around the world who are looking at political goings-on whether it is here or overseas and thinking Oh my God! How are we going to make any sense out of this mess?" this is an example—just one little example—of where good sense prevailed and people put the politics aside and went for the solution and a good win-win outcome was found. I just say congratulations to all concerned—I did not play much of a role—and I acknowledge those who played a much more important role than I did in reaching those good outcomes.Some more background on the bill: the bill does a few other really important things. It tackles the issue of UFB roll-out into the—wait for it—30 percent nearly one in three connections that are in multi-unit premises: apartment blocks condos businesses where you have got multiple dwellings or business units in the one building or off the one main supply line. So this allows long story short a UFB installer to get deemed consent and to be able to proceed if they have not heard objections from the body corporate within 15 days of notice. For homes down a right of way no consent will be required although 5 days' notice must be given if a fibre installation is non-invasive—that is if it is shallow-trenched under grass and it does not require ripping up their driveways or going through fences. If an installation is categorised as invasive—for example if it requires cutting concrete work will proceed if no neighbours on the shared right of way object.So if you like the bill is shifting the presumption in favour of roll-out unless there is a serious objection because of serious damage. It is yet another measure that has bipartisan support in this House to get faster cheaper broadband to a majority of New Zealanders and to as many many as possible. That is certainly something I championed when I was Minister of Communications and Information Technology and I must say I am very gratified at the bipartisan support and the progress that New Zealand has made during the time of this Government to carry that forward and New Zealand has risen up the broadband rankings in the OECD as a result. It is something that both sides of this House have supported both sides of this House have worked on in turn and New Zealand as a whole is benefiting. I think Kiwis can be rightly proud of not only the progress that has been made but the way our system has worked together to get a good outcome. Having said that it is not all fixed yet. The digital divide is still real. Despite spending $300 million on a rural broadband programme many New Zealand communities outside the main centres are still held back because of poor connectivity. I want to note in particular our whānau up in Northland because—I see Mr Henare is here. He has spent a bit of time up there. Kelvin Davis would say the same if he were here and the Rt Hon Winston Peters would be saying the same: you cannot drive from here to Kaitāia without your mobile phone falling out multiple times. That is not a First World country so that requires fibre backhaul and more cell towers and it is not rocket science. That is one example. We cannot expect First World regional development in a region as important and far-flung as Northland if we do not have broadband connectivity from one end to the other. That is just one example where it has not yet penetrated.Southland is another—part of the fabulous Te Tai Tonga electorate—and Rino Tirikatene is the champion for it here. Twenty-four percent of local businesses in Southland say lack of connectivity has affected their ability to attract staff. The other 76 mentioned the weather and 41 percent said that their internet service did not meet their needs. That is nearly half of them said they did not have enough internet—sounds like my kids.According to council surveys in Huntly in the Waikato only 44 percent of households have internet access only 51 percent in Taumarunui. I agree with my colleague Clare Curran that internet access is now pretty much a civil right. That is because the Crown requires citizens to interact with the Government online. It has got easier to do that for most people who have got connectivity but it has similarly got harder to do it face to face. You can do your IRD filings online but the local IRD office has been withdrawn out of the country towns.The post office is no longer the massive one-stop shop for Government services that it once was because you are expected to go online. That is fine if you have got connectivity but if you are one of the half of the people in Taumarunui or the 40 percent in Huntly who do not even have an internet connection then you are penalised.I want to put in a word for all the school kids out there. I see my kids come home they are 15 and 11—12 later this week Cameron—and they do so much of their homework online. The nature of homework has changed from rote learning to primary research using all the resources of the internet and it is fantastic to watch and they are learning much faster than our generation did when we were at school. But it works only if you have got internet connectivity if it is affordable and if it is fast enough to be fit for purpose.There is such a downstream economic and social spin-off from getting broadband roll-out right for which this bill makes a very helpful further step or two. We need to get those three Cs right: the three Cs of connectivity which this bill is about; of user capability and confidence; and of course of content creation. That is probably five Cs but three categories. Those are the magic three categories that must be done well to have a rich online environment.So we have still got more to do as a country. I know we will not rest on our laurels. I know that the incoming Labour Government later this year is going to pick up rural broadband give it a shot in the arm and roll it out faster than it is being rolled out at the moment. It is going to build on the progress represented by bipartisan consensus on this bill and get fast cheap broadband all around New Zealand. Thank you."