David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

My questions are also to the minister, and relate to the administration of the NBN—and indeed, the contrast between the administration, or lack thereof, under the previous government and under this government. Minister, in the broad context of the NBN, I understand that this was a project conceived in mid air in the absence of a cost-benefit analysis or, indeed, much analysis of any kind at all.

I want to focus in particular on the financial contribution of the government to the NBN. My understanding, Minister, is that the previous government originally announced that there would be a $4.7 billion contribution prior to the 2007 election in the context of a total project spend of $10 billion. But I understand, further, that some years later, in 2009,the government said that the project cost had increased to $43 billion, and that private investors and mums and dads were encouraged to invest up to 49 per cent of that $43 billion.

Indeed, I understand that the member for Lilley at that time said:

There couldn't be a better investment.

That is my understanding of what the member for Lilley said. As I understand it, Minister, the Prime Minister at the time stepped forward, with faux FDR gravitas, to announce a 'new deal' for broadband. But of course that new deal turned out to be a very bad deal for everyone except perhaps a few telecommunications companies that might have outwitted the previous government in negotiations. I also understand that the rollout of this project was dramatically over budget and behind schedule. My understanding is that $6.5 billion was spent prior to the 2010 election to reach just three per cent of Australians, which seems an extraordinary figure and almost a rollout by press release as opposed to a rollout by substance—with some premature announcements, donning of high-visibility gear perhaps before it was necessary, and frankly a very poor scenario.

Minister, my understanding is that the previous government had never actually undertaken an exercise to determine where broadband was most needed. It was quite startling when I first came to that knowledge. I also understand that at one point the previous government claimed that access to the NBN under them would be free. Given that the total cost of the project was going to be about $72 billion, which is about $8,000 per Australian household, plus the requirement for people to pay $100-plus to access it, it would seem to me that that description of the project as being free was misleading. In that context, Minister, I have some specific questions. Firstly, what did the strategic review which was recently conducted reveal to be the true state of NBN Co? What is the true financial position of NBN Co as opposed to the, perhaps, less accurate descriptions that we were used to under the previous government? What is the broadband quality project and how was it conducted? Has it been helpful in identifying, for the first time, where broadband is in most need? And why is it important to serve both underserved areas and areas that are promising for revenue?

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