Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Hansard source

Probably didn't care—that is right. So I put the question on notice and after months and months of waiting—he probably thought I would forget about it—the answer came back. I asked a very simple question: 'What was the cost of remediation works for Bonnyrigg subdivision?' He came back and said, 'The project was completed using standard NBN techniques.' That was the cost: 'The project has been completed using standard NBN techniques.'

So I then reminded him that to mislead a parliamentary committee was a most grievous matter and that he should be mindful of giving us the correct answer. After months we finally got the answer: they had wasted $20,000 on remediation works for Bonnyrigg. That item is relatively minor in terms of the total project, but the principle is far more important, that a parliamentary committee asked a concise question and got an answer that was meant to mislead. So if we are getting answers to a whole range of other questions that are equally misleading, when you are looking at the largest infrastructure project in this nation's history, the Australian taxpayer can have no faith in the answers that NBN Co. are giving and the Australian taxpayer can have no faith in their corporate plan, which is the greatest fairy story since The Wizard of Oz. The Australian taxpayer should have great cause for concern. Not only do we have a Treasurer who cannot keep spending under control; we have the CEO of NBN Co., Mike Quigley, who cannot keep spending under control. We have a project that is behind time, over budget and a waste of taxpayers' money. Taxpayers will be paying dearly for their incompetence.

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