Rowland made her comment on Wednesday in response to a report from NBN Co, the builder of the national broadband network, that internal research by the company had found that 90% of Australians, if given the option, would be likely to take up technical assistance to optimise their home broadband connection.

“Despite clumsy attempts at blame shifting by the previous minister, this finding is relevant to up to 750,000 Fibre to the Node premises expected to be impacted by in-home wiring issues that cause unreliable NBN service and reduce attainable speeds,” Rowland said.

“This is why Labor took a considered NBN policy to the May election where qualified technicians would be offered to address this problem, at no cost to the household, if a premises was identified as having an in-home wiring problem.

“Importantly, Labor’s proposal would have provided optionality for attending technicians to also conduct a health check on in-home equipment such as modems, providing a dual benefit to the consumer.”

Rowland said the internal NBN Co research referred to suggests 9 in 10 affected FttN households would be willing to make use of such an offer – “underscoring the opportunity Labor has identified”.

She said, “consumers must continue to be at the forefront of policy focus”, and Labor would “continue to advocate for their interests”.