Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Throsby for his very important question, because the NBN is absolutely critical to driving productivity and innovation in our economy and to providing basic services to all parts of the country at an affordable price. As I travel around this vast country and around the regional areas in particular, I find that they understand the importance of the National Broadband Network. When you go to Mackay, to Rockhampton, to Tasmania and to Western Australia, you find that regional Australians understand the importance of the National Broadband Network to their capacity, in particular, to do business and to be joined up to the national economy and the international economy. The NBN is a very important way of driving economic prosperity. It is a wholesale network and that is why, as the Prime Minister said before, it will drive competition amongst retailers and, because it will do that, it will drive prices down over time. That is recognised quite generally. For example, it is recognised by the Chairman of the ACCC, who has described the NBN as ‘the most significant pro-competitive stance we have ever taken in this area of telecommunications’.

It has been a dream of economic reformers to achieve structural separation and it is incredible that, in this House, the Liberal Party could now be opposing structural separation. That is why the member for Wentworth is such a hypocrite: he is prepared to make a quid out of it but he is also prepared to come into this House and oppose the structural separation of Telstra. Nothing demonstrates more the hypocrisy of those opposite on this question than the position of the member for Wentworth, who absolutely understands the importance of the NBN to economic growth, to competition and to people living in regional Australia. Of course he has been given his instructions to come into this House and demolish it, but he is still happy to make a quid out of it. Nothing demonstrates more the fact that those opposite are on about short-term political advantage, not long-term advantage. They would rather see the government fail than see the country succeed. They would rather tear the economy down than build it up. We on this side of the House are nation builders and we understand the importance of this vital enabling technology. We have had an extensive examination of the NBN. We had a committee of experts who said there was no private-sector proposal that delivered value for money. We have had a detailed implementation study, and now we are preparing a business case that those opposite say they will not accept in the first place, because they are concerned with politics not the long-term national interest.

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