Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is good to see that the member for Barker had so much to say in the debate on the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (National Broadband Network Measures—Network Information) Bill 2009 that, with four minutes left on the clock for him and only two minutes left before question time, he decides he has had enough. The core of this issue is the fact that there is only one party in this country that has had the guts and the decency to actually take on this very difficult issue of a National Broadband Network in this country.

It is pretty rich coming from the opposition, because after almost 12 years in government, when they had real opportunity, when the rivers of revenue gold used to flow into Canberra at the peak of the economy and when there was actually funding that could have paid the full $44 billion that we are putting forward with this, what did the Howard government do? They did absolutely nothing at all. All they talk about now is that they had signed off. They had signed off on nothing and delivered nothing, and after almost 12 years in government today all they can find the energy to do is whinge, whine and carp and go on about a government that has actually committed the funding and is committed to the delivery of a National Broadband Network both in the city and in the bush.

While he wasted enough time in promoting his own electorate, the member for Barker forgot to remind them that he was the guy who did not actually do anything for them when he was in power. When he had the opportunity to go in and deliver some telecommunications—

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