Lyne MP Rob Oakeshott is lobbying the government to begin the mainland rollout of its highly-publicised National Broadband Network on the Mid-North Coast.

He has teamed up with Page MP Janelle Saffin and Southern Cross University for the push.

Mr Oakeshott said there were several reasons why the Mid-North Coast needed the network first.

“In May last year, the Mid-North Coast was identified as one of 20 employment priority regions around Australia,” he said.

“This recognised our need for additional government support to generate employment and maintain economic growth in the face of the global economic downturn.

“The delivery of high-speed broadband to our region would be one of the most effective ways for government to support local business, increase economic activity and drive employment growth locally.

“Our region also has relatively low education levels compared with the rest on NSW and this is not helped by the difficulty that many students currently have getting fast access to the information they need.”

Mr Oakeshott said the fact that some students were still using “unreliable dial-up connections” was “unacceptable”.

He added that the Mid-North Coast was the “centre of the east-coast corridor between Sydney and Brisbane” and was therefore critical to the national network.

Broadband minister Stephen Conroy has already been given a detailed submission on the subject, compiled by Southern Cross University.

Mr Oakeshott said the proposal was a collaborative effort involving 14 local councils and businesses.

Local businesses have welcomed Mr Oakeshott’s efforts to improve broadband coverage.

The owner of PC Pitsop in Lake Cathie Ben Waters said it was “great to hear”.

“There’s shocking broadband speeds at the moment,” he said.

“If you’re a business and need to move a file, you’re better off sending it in the post.”

He said high-speed broadband would mean “a whole lot more content available”.

“It’s the next stage of evolution as far as technology goes,” he said.