Hayes John: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Hayes John: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:662;Page:10394] 
4. 
JOHN HAYES (National—Wairarapa) 
 to the  
Minister for Communications and Information Technology 
: What progress has the Government made on the Rural Broadband Initiative? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister for Communications and Information Technology) 
: 
 I am pleased to announce that today the Government has commenced its tender process for the $300 million Rural Broadband Initiative which will boost Internet connectivity and growth in rural areas. It is unacceptable in the 21st century that around half of rural households are still coping with dial-up speeds. The calls for expressions of interest released today will assist the prioritisation of regions and the development of minimum open-access requirements and service levels ahead of the request for proposal stage which begins in a few months’ time. 
John Hayes 
: What improvements will rural communities see in their broadband connection as a result of the Government’s initiative? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: Rural communities businesses and schools will see a significant improvement over the next 6 years. Ninety-three percent of rural schools will receive fibre enabling speeds of at least 100 megabits per second with the remainder to get speeds of at least 10 megabits per second. Over 80 percent of rural households will have access to broadband with speeds of at least 5 megabits per second with the remainder to have speeds of at least 1 megabit per second. This will allow rural people to access content and to use online services at the meaningful speeds currently enjoyed by their urban counterparts. 
Clare Curran 
: How does he respond to claims made by rural organisations that rural broadband is the poor cousin of urban broadband given that a just-released KPMG report notes that only 1.6 percent of the new money that the Government initially proposed to put into broadband and fibre networks was targeted towards the 13.8 percent of the population that lives in rural communities—approximately 585000 people—who between them grow process and export 66 percent of New Zealand’s merchandise exports? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: I am not sure how the member gets to that percentage level with $300 million worth of subsidies for rural areas versus $1.35 billion worth of investment in urban areas but I would make the following points. The different approaches of the urban and rural initiatives reflect the differing population densities of those communities and the different economics of supply. Therefore the urban programme is an investment whereas rural areas receive grants the urban programme will take longer and the urban and rural networks—thanks to the previous Government—are starting from different points. Many rural households are unfortunately still struggling on dial-up. This measure is an important step forward in developing rural broadband which was sadly neglected for a very long time under the previous Government. 
Clare Curran 
: I seek leave to table the report  
KPMG 
Agribusiness Agenda: The big opportunities and challenges facing New Zealand agriculture 
. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is no objection. 
Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.