Prime Minister promises $3b to 'finish' NBN and speed up internet   


Dec 13 2025
ABC News

Albanese announces $3 billion injection into NBN   

In short:
Labor has promised $3 billion to upgrade hundreds of thousands of NBN connections and speed up internet services.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the upgrades would "finish" the broadband network first introduced more than a decade ago.

What's next?
The funding has been committed to be delivered under a re-elected Albanese government.


Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has promised a $3 billion injection to "finish" the National Broadband Network and speed up internet services, as Labor and the Coalition swing into election campaign mode.

The $3 billion funding promise would upgrade fibre-to-the-node connections, providing an additional 622,000 new fibre connections with more than half in regional and rural areas.

The government says when that major upgrade is complete by 2030, more than 11 million homes and businesses will have access to connections enabling speeds of up to 1GB per second, far beyond the current average connection speed of 76.64 Mbps.

"Labor created the National Broadband Network, and only Labor will finish the NBN," Mr Albanese said.   

NBN Co chief executive Ellie Sweeney said today the average household consumed about 10 times more data than it did when the NBN was built, and it was an essential part of work and life.

"Whether Australians are working from home, whether Australians are running businesses, whether they’re learning online, whether they’re accessing telehealth, whether they’re gaming or whether they’re simply streaming or downloading their favourite shows, faster speed will mean an improvement to the internet services you use today," Ms Sweeney said.

"This is the final piece in the puzzle … today's announcement will mean access to faster and more reliable internet for millions of Australians."

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said thousands of Australian homes were "stranded" on copper lines that were ageing and degrading.

Ms Rowland said today's announcement was a "long-term investment" that would produce "long-term returns".

Rowland stands in the prime minister's courtyard smiling.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland says the NBN announcement represented a long-term investment.

Government attempts to open fight on NBN future
Mr Albanese also used the announcement to set up an attack on the Coalition as the federal election looms.

Late last year the federal government introduced legislation to lock future governments into maintaining public ownership of the NBN, which the Coalition refused to support.

Mr Albanese challenged the Coalition to guarantee public ownership of the NBN, suggesting the opposition would otherwise have it "flogged off" to the highest bidder.

"The last time the Coalition were seeking government they said they would stop the roll-out of fibre and keep a copper-based NBN, because it was all about, according to Tony Abbott and Coalition leaders, all about downloading videos and movies," he said.   

"They didn't understand that the NBN is about productivity, driving the economy, creating jobs. It is about how we live our life."

Modelling by Accenture commissioned by the government suggested its policy could provide a $10.4 billion cumulative economic uplift over the next decade.

Prime Minister Albanese cabinet meeting
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese convened the first cabinet meeting of the year this morning, as the government readies for an election. 

The prime minister began the year touring northern Australia in a soft launch of the government's election campaign.

Yesterday, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton launched the Liberal Party's campaign in Melbourne's east, where the Coalition must make inroads if it hopes to reclaim government.

It's about time