Up to 700 new businesses and more than 2,000 jobs are expected to be created in Mount Gambier as a result of the Turnbull Government’s NBN rollout.

Federal Minister for Urban Infrastructure and Cities Paul Fletcher has provided an update to Federal Parliament on the number of NBN connections in the federal electorates of Barker and Mayo.

“When the Coalition Government came to power in September 2013, the outgoing Labor Government had managed to connect just six premises to the NBN fixed network,” Mr Fletcher said.

“Today, under the Coalition, there are 51,621 premises ready for service and 28,177 connected.

“Likewise in the nearby electorate of Mayo, there were just 813 premises connected to the NBN fixed network when we inherited a complete mess from Labor – today, that number is 42,710.”

Mr Fletcher cited a report by the Regional Australia Institute which shows the benefits that will flow to Mount Gambier, the biggest town in Barker, as a result of the Turnbull Government’s NBN rollout.

“It’s expected that over the next three years there will be between 240 and 700 additional businesses in Mount Gambier, and 1,200 to 2,370 additional digital jobs as a direct result of the NBN,” Mr Fletcher said.

Federal Member for Barker Tony Pasin said he was pleased to see new jobs and business opportunities being created in his community as a result of the Turnbull Government’s NBN rollout.

“The NBN rollout is now 99 per cent complete in Barker,” Mr Pasin said.

“This is a great outcome for our community and an amazing turnaround from the bad old days under Labor when we saw just a handful of NBN connections.

“Only the Turnbull Government will back small business and support the creation of jobs in our community.”