Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. In answer to it I would say that the government at an earlier stage, well earlier, released the implementation study. We have had the parliament considering the question of structural separation. The government’s intentions to build a National Broadband Network to transform our nation’s infrastructure, to make sure that we do not export jobs to countries like Korea, are well known. The National Broadband Network business case has been supplied to the government. It is more than 400 pages long and the government, as prudent and responsible managers, are now analysing the case in detail, running the fine-toothed comb through it, and that is absolutely appropriate when we are dealing with an infrastructure project of this size and this significance to the nation.

The business case will be released publicly in December, as the minister for communications has indicated. What I say to the Leader of the Opposition, though, is that he really should come clean about all of this and indicate that he is not at all interested in the business case. No matter how good the business case is, no matter whatever it says, he wants to demolish the NBN.

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