Which politicians already have the NBN at their electorate office?
Does your local member already have fast broadband? Find out with finder's full list.
I was wondering recently: are politicians gaming the system so they can get access to the National Broadband Network (NBN) faster than anyone else?
To find out, I grabbed a full list of the electorate office addresses for every member of the House of Representatives in the most recent Parliament. By feeding those addresses into our NBN tracker, it was easy to calculate the proportion of politicians who have ensured that their office staff are getting the benefit of a faster connection.
It turns out that in aggregate, politicians are no more likely to be hooked up than the average Australian. Of those 128 local members, 28 (21.88%) have an NBN connection available to their electorate office. Overall, the NBN has been connected up to two million of its planned eight million premises. In other words, a quarter of us can get the NBN and that's also true of politicians.
17 (13.28%) of the electorate offices listed are in locations where the NBN is actively under construction. The remaining 83 (64.84%) still don't have a confirmed date for NBN construction. Like the rest of us, they're just going to have to wait.
It wouldn't have been surprising if politicians sought to help themselves during the NBN rollout by making sure their office was connected as quickly as possible, but based on these numbers, that hasn't been the case so far. There's no doubt that many of the early NBN rollout sites (such as Armidale in New England or much of the Tasmanian rollout) were chosen for political reasons. However, at this stage the odds of a politician having their electoral office on the NBN are no better than for the population at large.
Speaking of politics, don't forget to vote this Saturday. You can use our handy below-the-line vote card creator to maximise your Senate vote.
If you're curious, here's the full list of members in the 44th Parliament and their electoral office NBN connection status. Click on any of the headings to sort on that column.
| Name | Political Party | State | Electorate | NBN status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sharon Bird | ALP | NSW | Cunningham | Available |
| Sharon Claydon | ALP | NSW | Newcastle | Available |
| Stephen Jones | ALP | NSW | Throsby | Available |
| Warren Entsch | LP | QLD | Leichhardt | Available |
| Andrew Giles | ALP | Vic | Scullin | Available |
| Catherine King | ALP | Vic | Ballarat | Available |
| Michelle Rowland | ALP | NSW | Greenway | Available |
| Steve Irons | LP | WA | Swan | Available |
| Peter Hendy | LP | NSW | Eden-Monaro | Available |
| Kate Ellis | ALP | SA | Adelaide | Available |
| Tim Watts | ALP | Vic | Gellibrand | Available |
| Darren Chester | Nats | VIC | Gippsland | Available |
| Gai Brodtmann | ALP | ACT | Canberra | Not yet |
| Ewen Jones | LP | QLD | Herbert | Available |
| Louise Markus | LP | NSW | Macquarie | Available |
| Tony Zappia | ALP | SA | Makin | Available |
| Wyatt Roy | LP | QLD | Longman | Available |
| Rob Mitchell | ALP | Vic | McEwen | Construction |
| George Christensen | Nats | Qld | Dawson | Available |
| Jamie Briggs | LP | SA | Mayo | Construction |
| Cathy McGowan | Ind. | Vic | Indi | Construction |
| Russell Broadbent | LP | Vic | McMillan | Construction |
| Keith Pitt | Nats | QLD | Hinkler | Available |
| Scott Buchholz | LP | QLD | Wright | Construction |
| Fiona Scott | LP | NSW | Lindsay | Available |
| Ann Sudmalis | LP | NSW | Gilmore | Available |
| Lucy Wicks | LP | NSW | Robertson | Available |
| Julie Collins | ALP | Tas | Franklin | Available |
| Mark Coulton | Nats | NSW | Parkes | Available |
| Luke Hartsuyker | Nats | NSW | Cowper | Available |
| Adam Bandt | AG | Vic | Melbourne | Not yet |
| Anthony Byrne | ALP | Vic | Holt | Not yet |
| Luke Howarth | LP | Qld | Petrie | Construction |
| Sussan Ley | LP | NSW | Farrer | Construction |
| Tony Pasin | LP | SA | Barker | Construction |
| Michelle Landry | Nats | Qld | Capricornia | Construction |
| Lisa Chesters | ALP | Vic | Bendigo | Not yet |
| Karen McNamara | LP | NSW | Dobell | Construction |
| Angus Taylor | LP | NSW | Hume | Construction |
| Michael Danby | ALP | Vic | Melbourne Ports | Not yet |
| Mark Dreyfus | ALP | Vic | Isaacs | Not yet |
| Michael McCormack | Nats | NSW | Riverina | Construction |
| Melissa Price | LP | WA | Durack | Available |
| Natasha Griggs | CLP | NT | Solomon | Available |
| Anthony Albanese | ALP | NSW | Grayndler | Not yet |
| Michael Keenan | LP | WA | Stirling | Construction |
| Chris Bowen | ALP | NSW | McMahon | Not yet |
| Tony Burke | ALP | NSW | Watson | Not yet |
| David Feeney | ALP | Vic | Batman | Not yet |
| Jason Clare | ALP | NSW | Blaxland | Not yet |
| Pat Conroy | ALP | NSW | Charlton | Not yet |
| Clive Palmer | PUP | Qld | Fairfax | Construction |
| Jenny Macklin | ALP | Vic | Jagajaga | Not yet |
| Justine Elliot | ALP | NSW | Richmond | Not yet |
| Andrew Nikolic | LP | TAS | Bass | Available |
| Nola Marino | LP | WA | Forrest | Construction |
| Julie Bishop | LP | WA | Curtin | Not yet |
| Terri Butler | ALP | QLD | Griffith | Not yet |
| Joel Fitzgibbon | ALP | NSW | Hunter | Not yet |
| Chris Hayes | ALP | NSW | Fowler | Not yet |
| Jim Chalmers | ALP | Qld | Rankin | Not yet |
| Ian Goodenough | LP | WA | Moore | Not yet |
| Ed Husic | ALP | NSW | Chifley | Not yet |
| Richard Marles | ALP | Vic | Corio | Not yet |
| Shayne Neumann | ALP | Qld | Blair | Not yet |
| Graham Perrett | ALP | Qld | Moreton | Not yet |
| Julie Owens | ALP | NSW | Parramatta | Not yet |
| Andrew Leigh | ALP | ACT | Fraser | Not yet |
| Tanya Plibersek | ALP | NSW | Sydney | Not yet |
| Brendan O'Connor | ALP | Vic | Gorton | Not yet |
| Andrew Hastie | LP | WA | Canning | Not yet |
| Matt Thistlethwaite | ALP | NSW | Kingsford Smith | Not yet |
| Clare O'Neil | ALP | Vic | Hotham | Not yet |
| Tony Abbott | LP | NSW | Warringah | Not yet |
| John Alexander | LP | NSW | Bennelong | Not yet |
| Joanne Ryan | ALP | VIC | Lalor | Not yet |
| David Coleman | LP | NSW | Banks | Not yet |
| Bill Shorten | ALP | Vic | Maribyrnong | Not yet |
| Paul Fletcher | LP | NSW | Bradfield | Not yet |
| Wayne Swan | ALP | Qld | Lilley | Not yet |
| Andrew Wilkie | Ind. | Tas | Denison | Available |
| Maria Vamvakinou | ALP | Vic | Calwell | Not yet |
| Bob Katter | AUS | Qld | Kennedy | Not yet |
| Kevin Andrews | LP | VIC | Menzies | Not yet |
| Josh Frydenberg | LP | VIC | Kooyong | Not yet |
| Alex Hawke | LP | NSW | Mitchell | Not yet |
| Karen Andrews | LP | QLD | McPherson | Not yet |
| Mark Butler | ALP | SA | Port Adelaide | Not yet |
| Steven Ciobo | LP | QLD | Moncrieff | Not yet |
| Peter Dutton | LP | QLD | Dickson | Not yet |
| Craig Kelly | LP | NSW | Hughes | Not yet |
| Dennis Jensen | LP | WA | Tangney | Not yet |
| Andrew Laming | LP | Qld | Bowman | Not yet |
| Christian Porter | LP | WA | Pearce | Not yet |
| Nick Champion | ALP | SA | Wakefield | Not yet |
| Amanda Rishworth | ALP | SA | Kingston | Not yet |
| Christopher Pyne | LP | SA | Sturt | Not yet |
| Jane Prentice | LP | QLD | Ryan | Not yet |
| Craig Laundy | LP | NSW | Reid | Not yet |
| Stuart Robert | LP | QLD | Fadden | Not yet |
| Sarah Henderson | LP | Vic | Corangamite | Not yet |
| Russell Matheson | LP | NSW | Macarthur | Not yet |
| Greg Hunt | LP | VIC | Flinders | Not yet |
| Luke Simpkins | LP | WA | Cowan | Not yet |
| Kelly O'Dwyer | LP | VIC | Higgins | Not yet |
| Warren Snowdon | ALP | NT | Lingiari | Construction |
| Scott Morrison | LP | NSW | Cook | Not yet |
| Tony Smith | LP | Vic | Casey | Not yet |
| Bert van Manen | LP | Qld | Forde | Not yet |
| Malcolm Turnbull | LP | NSW | Wentworth | Not yet |
| Michael Sukkar | LP | Vic | Deakin | Not yet |
| Nickolas Varvaris | LP | NSW | Barton | Not yet |
| Dan Tehan | LP | VIC | Wannon | Not yet |
| Trent Zimmerman | LP | NSW | North Sydney | Not yet |
| Alan Tudge | LP | VIC | Aston | Not yet |
| Ross Vasta | LP | Qld | Bonner | Not yet |
| David Gillespie | Nats | NSW | Lyne | Not yet |
| Ken O'Dowd | Nats | Qld | Flynn | Not yet |
| Jason Wood | LP | Vic | La Trobe | Not yet |
| Brett Whiteley | LP | TAS | Braddon | Construction |
| Kevin Hogan | Nats | NSW | Page | Not yet |
| Eric Hutchinson | LP | Tas | Lyons | Not yet |
| Rowan Ramsey | LP | SA | Grey | Not yet |
| Rick Wilson | LP | WA | O'Connor | Not yet |
| Andrew Broad | Nats | Vic | Mallee | Not yet |
| Ken Wyatt | LP | WA | Hasluck | Not yet |
| Matt Williams | LP | SA | Hindmarsh | Not yet |
| Barnaby Joyce | Nats | NSW | New England | Not yet |
Angus Kidman's Findings column looks at new developments and research that help you save money, make wise decisions and enjoy your life more. It appears Monday through Friday on finder.com.au.
Picture: nbn
I would love to see some simple stats to see if any particular party was favoured in the roll-out. I just can’t be bothered doing them myself.
to Mr. Angus Kidman,
Regarding NBN connections. It would be expensive for many people who do not want this facility, e. g. Elderlies, pensioners, unemployed,…
Do we have an option of not connecting to a NBN provider? We prefer ADSL and ADLS 2. This would be good enough and less complicated for us.
Thank you for your opinion.
Hi Matthew,
Many NBN connections are catering for lower-income households (and the competition for this is likely to increase as the NBN rollout progresses), but once the NBN rollout has finished in an given area, there’s a grace period where both ADSL and NBN services are offered, after which ADSL services (both ADSL and ADSL2) will no longer be offered by any ISP. So while you would have the option of not connecting, it would also leave you without fixed line services. One option there would be mobile broadband, but that’s more expensive than fixed line in every circumstance.
Regards,
Alex.