Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

The government does not support these amendments. Amendment (16) is to change the fact that the bill makes the NBN Co. exempt from the Public Works Committee Act. The amendment moved by the member for Wentworth attempts to remove that exemption. He is still proceeding with this amendment in spite of the fact that the parliament carried a resolution earlier today to establish a joint select committee, which will be chaired by the member for Lyne, to look into these very issues. It is an extraordinary proposition and, frankly, I am surprised that the member for Wentworth continues to pursue this position, which has already been rejected by this parliament once today.

The government does not support amendments (18) and (19). As drafted, the bill contemplates that NBN Co. might purchase other companies where this might help in the rollout of its network and the provision of high-speed broadband services. However, NBN Co. is required by the bill to be a wholesale provider, a rule that would breached if NBN Co. acquired a company with retail operations. NBN Co. would therefore need to put in place transitional arrangements for divesting any acquired retail operations. Under the bill, there is a 12-month window for such transitions, a period that the government and NBN Co. consider to be reasonable and that is long enough to avoid NBN Co. having to engage in fire sales at possibly reduced prices. The proposed opposition amendment removes the period within which NBN Co. must divest the retail operations. The effect of this would be to prevent NBN Co. from acquiring a business that has retail operations until that business had divested its retail arm. This would likely lead to delays in the rollout. There seems to be no real justification for such an amendment and it would have the effect of promoting fire sales, to the benefit of others, while limiting NBN Co. flexibility. The government does not support this amendment, as it does not support the other amendments which have been moved which attempt to constrain the success of NBN Co. Those opposite are determined to undermine the NBN. Of course, the Leader of the Opposition gave the member for Wentworth the task of destroying the NBN. These amendments, which are designed to undermine the success of the National Broadband Network, should be rejected by this parliament.

Question negatived.

Bill, as amended, agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

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