This seems to have escaped people's attention, but I think it is time we expressed our gratitude to Kevin Rudd for having the Nostradamus-like foresight to see the need for the NBN, and the iron will to make it happen, even at the expense of his political career.
Kev predicted the coronavirus over a decade ago:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-41577003
Quote:In 2007, Mr Rudd announced 98% of Australian homes would be on the NBN by 2020. It was a breathtakingly ambitious idea.
Thanks to meddling by the coalition and downgrading the infrastructure, it didn't quite fulfill the need that Kev foresaw:
Quote:In 2013, Australia ranked 30th for average internet speeds. The NBN was meant to improve that, but the most recent standings ranked Australia 50th.
The State of the Internet survey by US internet firm Akamai put Australia - with an average of 11.1 Mbps (megabits per second) - behind countries including Kenya, Hungary and Russia. And while it promotes itself as part of go-ahead Asia, Australia sits only eighth in the region, behind neighbours such as Thailand (21st overall) and New Zealand (27th).
The economic impact of the virus would have been much worse without the NBN making it so easy for many of us to work from home. Even worse, many more people would have been forced to go into the office, spreading the virus, killing people, and forcing businesses into genuine lockdown. 7 years after being booted from office, Kev is still saving lives.